  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 09/01/2019 This unconventional alphabet book pairs a previously unpublished manuscript from renowned author Krauss with whimsical pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations.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. - Copyright 2019 Booklist. School Library Journal - 10/01/2019 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 - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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