Eye Spy

In an inventive variation on the alphabet book, each page offers a puzzle with words that are homophones or homonyms. Once the trick is learned, the rest is easy, though it's fun to go back and discover how Bourke chooses to execute the theme. For example, for the letter J the first three illustrations show a jar of jam, a bowl of jam and jam on crackers; the fourth depicts a trio of jazz musicians jamming on bass, piano and sax. In another, three belts display various waists; the fourth block is a basket full of discarded paper. Children who like to play with words or are just learning some of the intriguing ways English works could be captivated by the concept. Unfortunately, the small-sized illustrations do not successfully capture the book's complicated but nifty ideas. All ages. (Oct.)