What Pete Ate from A to Z

Starred review from July 16, 2001
Kalman (Next Stop Grand Central) unleashes her extravagant whimsy in this loquacious alphabet book, "in which a certain dog devours
a myriad
of items
which he should not." Shaggy yellow Pete, staring benignly from the book's flame-red cover, is an omnivore. According to his astonished owner, who speaks in a torrent of interjections and parenthetical asides, Pete first dined on an "accordion. All
of it." Pete's torso takes on the instrument's shape as he springs in the air. He next "ate a bouncing ball that belonged to uncle Bennie's dog Buster. (Buster is no bargain. He barks all the time, but still...)." A wan fellow stands with a frowning white bulldog at his feet, gesturing at a picture of the vanished ball; empty chairs in a composition reminiscent of Matisse augment the sense of tongue-in-cheek tragedy. Pete proceeds through the letters of the alphabet, enjoying sticky stuff ("Gooey gluey dog"), "Mrs. Parsley's pink pocketbook" and a pair of "underpants. Uggh!" A loose story line emerges as Pete eats Bennie's money ("Now Bennie has no money to buy Buster a new ball...") and the Parsleys make multiple appearances. Kalman paints affectionate portraits of the unstoppable Pete, the now-missing objects and their disappointed owners, and her hand-printed text acts as an element of the illustrations. Her overblown alliteration and fabulous gouaches gush with glamour. All ages.

September 1, 2001
Ages 6-8. Unlike Kalman's dog-of-the-world Max from " Swami on Rye: Max in India" (1995), Pete has a simpler ambition: he "DEVOURS . . . a MYRIAD of ITEMS which he should NOT." As revealed in an alphabetical catalog by his owner Poppy Wise, Pete usually prefers nonfood items, beginning with Cousin Rocky's accordion ("All of it") and going on to a camera, a fez, money, a pocketbook, various shoes, Uncle Rocky's underpants, and several yo-yos--anything, in fact, except "Zug Zug Dog Grub." With deliciously vibrant colors, slightly skewed perspectives, and delectable humor, Kalman mixes and matches her exuberant canine gourmand, his latest snack, and annoyed or melancholy-looking adults. Although each picture is headed by the appropriate letter in hand-drawn uppercase, lowercase, and script, this ABC is addressed less to beginning readers or writers than to dog lovers everywhere, who will agree with Poppy's rousing summation: "ZOOKS! WHATTADOG!!"(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)