Can U Save the Day?

PreS-Gr 1–It’s consonants vs. vowels in Stocker’s debut picture book. The letter B brags, “There are 5 vowels in your group/but 21 in our grand troop./I’m a more important letter. Consonants are so…/much…/BETTER!” The vowels take great offense and one by one leave the alphabet. Told using the alphabet, animals, and the sounds they make, this story educates readers about the concept of consonants and the importance of vowels. Off A, E, I, O, and U go, and the farm animals suffer. The dog says “brk,” the horse says “nigh,” the birds “twt,” the pig says “onk,” and the consonants cannot stop laughing. That is, until a tractor comes hurtling toward them and it is up to U to find a way to reunite the alphabet and save the animal sounds. Disbury’s colorful illustrations pop against the clean white background. The playful animals and letters have detailed expressions that add greatly to the story line.