Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky is not your ordinary ABC book. Zebra envisions an orderly abecedary but hasn’t counted on an impatient Moose. On the opening pages we see all the characters lined up backstage in alphabetical order starting with apple. Zebra, dressed as a referee, is directing them on stage, one by one. Everything goes well until Moose pushes Duck out of the way on the D page. Zebra steps up to order Moose off the page. He then steps onto the E page and pokes Elephant. F and G go well. Moose turns up on the H page asking if it is his turn yet. He appears IN the ice cream cone on the I page, on the label of the jar on the J page and in the Kangaroo’s pouch on the K page. Very excited, he pokes his head onto the L page to let you know he is next. Except, Zebra announces, in a phrase heard by many a job applicant, “Sorry we decided to go with the mouse this time’. Moose crashes through the remaining letter pages protesting the unfairness of it all. Finally, on the Y page Zebra tells Moose he can be on the Z page: “Z is for Zebra’s friend, Moose”
The text is easy and the artwork is wonderfully detailed. Kids will have a great time studying each page, sometimes having to look carefully for the object or animal associated with the letter.
The Sonoma County Library has several copies. You can still order a copy online from Yulupa’s Book Fair here until March 19, 2013.
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