Go and Get with Rex

In this peppy read, creative partners LaRochelle and Wohnoutka (See the Cat: Stories About a Dog) introduce “Go and Get”—an “eye spy”–like alphabet game that keeps three players on their toes. When the unseen narrator calls out a letter of the alphabet, pale-skinned Jack; Jill, portrayed with brown skin; and anthropomorphized dog Rex are tasked with retrieving something that begins with that letter. The narrator kicks off the game with F, which results in Jack bringing a frog, Jill presenting a fish, and Rex showing up with a... duck? When Rex explains (“Woof! Woof! Woof!”) that the duck is a “friend,” the moment establishes both a running joke around Rex’s fondness for ducks, and a key semantic point: context is everything. Meanwhile, Jack and Jill’s responses become more expansive, as D inspires Jack to produce a dress-clad, drum-playing dinosaur, while Jill offers a daisy-drawing dragon sitting at a desk. The unflagging energy and creative play on offer should soon prompt readers to transfer the game from picture book to real life. Ages 3–7. (May)