Let's go ABC! Things that go, from A to Z by Rhonda Gowler Greene

Illustrated by Daniel Kirk. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9780802735096
(Age: 3-6) Alphabet. Vehicles. Rhyming book. Each page of this alphabet book contains a short rhyme about a vehicle for each letter of the alphabet, e.g., "I pick up speed. I'm gaining height. I catch the wind, ascend-in flight! I'm an... Airplane!" Each letter is hidden within the illustration or placed somewhere on the vehicle, eg. the L is the seat within the limousine. This feature, along with the large capital alphabet spread on the endpapers, will help children develop a visual understanding of letters. Exclamation marks are everywhere but they do help to add to the energy of the book. Putting the name of the vehicle at the end of the rhyme is clever as it prompts the child to name the vehicle after the predictive cue "I'm a... ". There is a good mix of familiar (bus, motorcycle) and unfamiliar (iceboat, zeppelin) vehicles and features animals as well as some other characters (santa, snowman) beloved by children. There is lots of action within each page and the text reads well at a fast pace, which will keep the young listener engaged. This is noticeably American, as is always the case with books featuring emergency vehicles, but will still appeal greatly to little vehicle lovers, despite things looking a little different. Children will enjoy finding the letter hidden within the picture as well as other things that start with that letter. The illustrations are crisp, bold and easy on the eye. This is a fun book for those developing visual letter awareness and initial sound knowledge.
Nicole Nelson