cover image Apple Pie

Apple Pie

Tracey Campbell Pearson. Dial Books, $5.95 (29pp) ISBN 978-0-8037-0252-3

An ABC that dates back at least to the 1600s is zipped up with Pearson's spirit ed illustrations, as characters practically roll over each other in their haste to get to a pie. A baby bearing the initial ""A'' reaches for ``A apple pie,'' a small girl named B stands mouth open, ready to fulfill the claim that ``B bit it,'' then a boy, C, wants to ``cut it.'' Each addition al child helps or hinders the pie as it travels from one end of the table to an other. T blissfully trods among the squishy pieces of cooked apple, W weeps for the now-wrecked pie and Z zealously presents a hot new pastry for them all. Strewn across each page are objects with names that begin with the featured letter; the book can be spread out and hung on a wall. The breakneck pace of the pictures and text guarantees fun for young children learning their ABCs. (3-7