cover image Midnight in the Cemetery: A Spooky Search-And-Find Alphabet Book

Midnight in the Cemetery: A Spooky Search-And-Find Alphabet Book

Cheryl Harness. Simon & Schuster, $16 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-689-80873-9

In this puzzler, two treasure-hunters anger the radiant-white specter of a buccaneer. Alliterative objects lurk in the phantasmal illustrations, and rhyming quatrains emphasize each letter (""J"": ""The kids' hearts jerk like jumping beans,/ Their legs turn to jelly inside their jeans""). The verse is convoluted and hokey; the better midnight fright comes from Brickman's (A Log's Life) funereal collages. With their 3D-like effects and morbid colors, the tableaux recall the motionless contents of a Victorian bell jar. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)