PARTON, Daron Alligator in an Anorak Random House, 2014 unpaged $19.99 ISBN 9780857983091 SCIS 1676370
With a cheeky alligator grin, standing in a yellow anorak, the reader is invited into this quirky alphabet book. He is followed by a bear in a bathtub, crab in a caravan, dodo in a dive, elephant in an eggcup and so on. There are other clever features to be explored and developed, such as why the ‘mole in the middle’ has no object with it but has such a knowing smile.
The alliteration works very well and the simplicity, colour and varied placement of the text reinforces several elements of visual literacy. The illustrations are colourful and placed well on the white spaces. They are also fun to explore. The animals chosen are varied and invite explanation and enrichment, as do the articles with which they are paired. An added design feature is the final page with thumbnails of each illustration. This is a recommended new book in this genre for babies, toddlers and early childhood years.
reviewed by Julie Long