cover image Alphabatics

Alphabatics

Suse MacDonald. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $19.99 (64pp) ISBN 978-0-02-761520-3

An ""A'' is inverted and its sides plump up. Suddenly, it's an ``Ark,'' floating on the high seas. The ``C'' falls over backwards and becomes the broad grin of a ``Clown.'' When the lowercase ``h'' fills in, the first downstroke becomes a chimney and the hump peaks like the roof of a ``house.'' MacDonald uses visual acrobatics to tease young ABC learners into looking at letters in an unusual way. Her graphics are set boldly against a pristine while background. The concept could take all the hard work out of learning the alphabet; some readers may be inspired to make their own attempts to convert letters into art. (All ages