cover image Charlie's ABC

Charlie's ABC

Nona Hatay. Hyperion Books, $10.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-1-56282-352-8

The idea behind this alphabet book sounds good, but the results are less than attractive. Black-and-white photos show a fresh-faced toddler in a variety of ordinary scenes, with particular objects hand-colored in crayon to match them to a text listing alphabetically ordered items: alphabet, ball, chairs and so on. The text, too, is bicolored, with the first letter of each word coordinating with the art. The compositions are superior and the settings inventive (the photo for ``mirror,'' for example, focuses on the reflected image of the boy getting a haircut). The hand-coloring, however, is definitely an acquired taste. The highlighted objects have an almost radioactive shine, while the colors themselves favor Day-Glo tones. The neon-yellow cocker spaniel illustrating ``dog,'' for example, seems as unreal as the stone sculpture for ``lion,'' which is decorated in nearly the same hue. Rather than directing the reader's attention positively, Hatay's technique may prove more of a distraction. Ages 1-5. (Mar.)