cover image LMNO Peas

LMNO Peas

Keith Baker, . . S&S/Beach Lane, $16.99 (40pp) ISBN 978-1-4169-9141-0

Hundreds of animated green peas tumble through the alphabet in this refreshingly original book. The illustrations are full of vitality and good humor, and the rhyming text never misses a beat. Each large, pastel letter is accompanied by energetic peas introducing themselves (“We're acrobats, artists, and astronauts in space”). Most letters occupy a single page, but Baker combines some letters the way children repeating a just-learned alphabet often do. The peas are all small and round, but Baker (Just How Long Can a Long String Be?! ) gives them stick legs and arms, along with lively faces and costumes, to demonstrate his inventive view of each letter. To illustrate the letters H and I (“We're hikers, inventors, and investigators”), two peas climb a branch leaning on the H, a pea in a Sherlock Holmes hat tries to decipher footprints below, and a single pea with a light bulb above his head, smiles at his newly invented wheel that dots the letter I. Baker's after-the-Z surprise ending is a question for readers: “Now tell us, please... WHO ARE YOU?” Ages 3–7. (Apr.)