ABC roar

An animal alphabet book. Each spread includes two letters of the alphabet decorated with the featured creatures. "B is for bear, fishing down the stream" depicts the letter B as a body of water with fish below the surface, a bear wading across and another looking on. Though the illustrations are attractive, they don't include much detail or depth. There are cutouts for each letter, and a tactile shiny line invites readers to trace the letter's shape. An arrow points to the starting spot. This fine motor practice, while welcome, will be a bit more complicated for younger readers as some letters require them to lift and move their finger, as with T. The audience for this book is below writing age, and caregivers will make up the gaps, but the starting arrows could have been left out altogether. Though the book mixes some lesser-known animals (ibex, quokka, and xerus) in with well-known creatures (gorilla, flamingo, and hippopotamus) and steers clear of overused alphabet animals (here, Z is for zebra shark rather than zebra), there's little to set it apart in a rather crowded field. Better versions of this already exist. (Board book. 1-3) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.