Roar Like a Dandelion

This mischievous abecedarian by the late, celebrated Krauss, author of such classics as A Hole Is to Dig and The Carrot Seed, sat unpublished for decades, until Krauss's longtime publisher and her estate's executor agreed that Ruzzier (Good Boy) was just the artist to illustrate it. In single-line poems, Krauss impishly works through the alphabet, writing unexpected commands that poke fun at the tedium of traditional, noun-based ABC fare. Ruzzier extends the surreal mood expertly with subtly hilarious results--his endearing creatures, with their too-big ears and wrinkly snouts, are by turns dignified and joyful as they engage in playful vignettes reminiscent of early Sendak. For E, a pig seated in front of a door, knife and fork at the ready, prepares to "Eat all the locks off the doors." For I--"Ignore yourself and get mad"--an enraged rabbit gazes at its reflection, which is seated comfortably, eyes closed, within a mirror. In one particularly sublime moment, a beatific dog, arms extended and eyes closed, grasps pinecones, illustrating H's "Hold your arms out like a little pine tree." Each page offers its own adventure; taken together, the spreads create an irresistible, deliciously subversive invitation to turn one's back on the tiresome. And no special equipment is needed to follow the volume's poetic instructions--just a willingness to "jump like a raindrop," "kick away the snow and make spring come," and "nod YES." Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

K-Gr 2--With a nod to the fanciful, this alphabetic listing of activities invites readers' imaginations to soar with a series of commands encouraging children to envision a world beyond the expected. Paired with Krauss's never-published humorous text, Ruzzier's soft color on pen-ink drawings add whimsy to each page of the possible or improbable. Each vignette suggests positive change with frequent outlandish anthropomorphic images--pigs don't fly, but they read books and listen as others make music, and elephants joyously "jump like a raindrop." Text urges readers to "paint a picture of a cage with an open door and wait" as fanciful winged creatures watch. Ducks even reverse flight to "walk backward all the way home." VERDICT A suggested first purchase for all libraries, this book urges readers to imagine the improbable, "Sit in the sun and shine" and "X out all the bad stuff," for anyone may, as the title suggests,"Roar like a dandelion."--Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX