Letter Lunch

K-Gr 2—Two hungry friends set out to collect letters for alphabet soup after realizing that their pantry only contains the letter "C." The illustrations come alive with rich colors as they gather letters from the garden until realizing that they must go to the market to purchase more. Eventually, they climb a great mountain for the elusive letter "Z" to complete their complement of consonants, and spice up the concoction with the addition of some vowels. By layering the characters and letters in each panel, Gutiérrez artfully creates illustrations that portray a wordless narrative. The letters are consistently highlighted throughout the book and pop off the pages because of the bright colors and layered a collage effect. The comiclike layout provides emergent readers a clear path to understanding and young readers will quickly become absorbed in the story. Most libraries have numerous alphabet books, but this one takes readers on an exciting adventure while showcasing the letters and has a wide appeal.—April Sanders, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL