Review by Booklist Review
This unconventional alphabet book pairs a previously unpublished manuscript from renowned author Krauss with whimsical pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations. Ruzzier matches Krauss' playful tone and takes it in unexpected directions. Act like a sprinkler in summer shows a mouse cooling off under a whale's spouting; Butt like a billy goat depicts a determined-looking rabbit trying to outmuscle a rhinoceros; Fall like rain features startled elephants dropping from the sky. The imperative text directs readers into creative movement, making this a natural choice for storytime. The animal characters are rendered with hilarious but understated expressions, allowing readers to take their time appreciating the humorous details in each letter's one-or-two-page spread. Some characters float on a white background, while other illustrations are grounded in colorful landscapes, and this visual variety propels the book, keeping it fresh as it moves through the 26 letters. Inventive and original, Ruzzier pays homage to Krauss as well as Sendak, using a style all his own.--Lucinda Whitehurst Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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abecedarian by the late, celebrated Krauss, author of such classics as A Hole Is to Dig and The Carrot Seed, sat unpublished for decades, until Krauss's longtime publisher and her estate's executor agreed that Ruzzier (Good Boy) was just the artist to illustrate it.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.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
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
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Who says unpublished Sendaks get to have all the fun?This unpublished manuscript from the creator of A Hole Is To Dig (which was illustrated by said Sendak in 1952) follows in very much the same vein as that classic. It's ostensibly an alphabet book, and each letter is represented by a clear-cut command to child readers. They are urged in no uncertain terms to attempt short, simple acts ("Nod YES"), to make grand declarations ("Yell, Good morning, big fat world!' "), and to attain moments of distilled poetry ("Open your eyes, see the sea / Shut them fast, lock it in"). Ruzzier's ink-and-watercolor illustrations meet, with great command, the challenge of making sense of Krauss' more esoteric urgings. Thus, "Go like a road" is illustrated with a (possibly) benign python a trail of mice walk along, and "Eat all the locks off the doors" features a pig, with a door stretched before it, screwdriver and wrench gripped like a fork and knife. Where Krauss rejoiced in children's irrepressible sense of self, Ruzzier's art recapitulates that feeling, and, with his cast of cats, rats, bugs, and birds, he is unafraid to bring a little surrealism into the mix. Ultimately, this work adroitly bridges the more-than-half-century gap between two accomplished artists.An abecedarian catalog of delights. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
