Review by Booklist Review
This alphabet book's clever gambit is that it is devoted to the unseen. Clear, hidden, lost, quiet, and secret are a few of the abstract nouns and concepts presented in classic "I is for Invisible" style. Barrett's illustrations do the heavy lifting, conjuring something out of nothing with scenes that emphasize absence or the intangible. Consequently, his art makes adept use of white space, which he adorns with black pen cross-hatching and pops of orange that form people caught in medias res. There is plenty of room for youngsters to imagine what has transpired, perhaps postulating why a mother and daughter are running late (and carrying flowers) when all they find at the "J is for Just missed it" bus stop is a cloud of exhaust. This abecedary is one of the titles launching Penguin Workshop's new RISE imprint, which is dedicated to creating books for the preschool audience. While the vocabulary and concepts tackled in these pages are best suited to the older end of the preschool spectrum, its illustrations will please all ages.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
This alphabet book explores abstract ideas and spotlights "invisible" objects. The text is straightforward, with each letter of the alphabet given its own page or double-page spread: "A is for Air / B is for Bare / C is for Clear." Barrett's scratchy black-and-white illustrations, enhanced with rusty-orange highlights, offer context: an open window; a child headed into a bathtub; a fish tank. Working to understand how each letter's word is being represented is part of the fun, and humor abounds. For example, "N is for Nothing" sits upon a blank spread. While characters and situations change throughout the twenty-six concepts, a bus stop serves as the hub for the story. It is shown through multiple seasons of the year, and it sets the stage for several scenes, many of them involving missing the bus ("D is for Delayed / J is for Just missed it / T is for Too late"). While perhaps not instructive for learning one's ABCs, this title offers a fresh perspective on the familiar alphabet book structure and affords viewers opportunities for close examination and discussion. Elisa Gall November/December 2020 p.83(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sights unseen define this ABC book. "A is for Air / B is for Bare // C is for Clear." These are the first three lines of text on the first two double-page spreads of this clever abecedary. Corresponding illustrations show, respectively: an open window with curtains blowing in the breeze; a child getting into a bathtub, naked backside toward readers; and fish swimming in an aquarium. Ensuing pages continue to use text to name what is invisible, with art somehow evoking the unseen. City-dwelling children will understand the tableau for "D is for delayed," in which a group of commuters stand at a bus stop, drifting autumn leaves underscoring the absence of the bus; evoking the other side of that particular experience, "J is for Just missed it" depicts a different set of commuters hustling toward the edge of the page, a cloud of exhaust and zoom lines indicating the departed bus. One page, "N is for Nothing," is utterly empty except for the text, which recalls the "Goodnight nobody" page from Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's famed Goodnight Moon. Visual connections among some spreads--such as the bus-stop scenes--lend cohesion to the book as a whole, and Barrett's vigorously crosshatched pen-and-ink art with orange highlights has an appropriately minimalist look even in crowded spreads. Humans depicted are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.3-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 37% of actual size.) Make sure to see this A+ alphabet book. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
