Lmno Peas

In this alphabet book the characters are peas--yes, vegetables--who work at various occupations. For youngsters (and oldsters as well), the experience of poring over Baker's illustrations becomes even richer by listening to this recording, which is enhanced by Crystal Taliefero's toe-tapping delivery and song. Each alphabet letter is presented in a call-and-response format and represented by enthusiastic pea characters--artists, inventors, sailors on the sea, and more. Taliefero clearly enunciates the description of each character and then pauses for full appreciation. It won't take long for listeners to join in with the refrain: "We are peas, get ready to roll, the alphabet peas!" A.R. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 22, 2010
Hundreds of animated green peas tumble through the alphabet in this refreshingly original book. The illustrations are full of vitality and good humor, and the rhyming text never misses a beat. Each large, pastel letter is accompanied by energetic peas introducing themselves (“We're acrobats, artists, and astronauts in space”). Most letters occupy a single page, but Baker combines some letters the way children repeating a just-learned alphabet often do. The peas are all small and round, but Baker (Just How Long Can a Long String Be?!
) gives them stick legs and arms, along with lively faces and costumes, to demonstrate his inventive view of each letter. To illustrate the letters H and I (“We're hikers, inventors, and investigators”), two peas climb a branch leaning on the H, a pea in a Sherlock Holmes hat tries to decipher footprints below, and a single pea with a light bulb above his head, smiles at his newly invented wheel that dots the letter I. Baker's after-the-Z surprise ending is a question for readers: “Now tell us, please... WHO ARE YOU?” Ages 3–7.