Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Necessary E


Imagine a world without E. It would b difficult to spll in usual ways. Common things would b missing thr parts. In Tom Lichtenheld's new book E-mergency (created with Ezra Fields-Meyer), E gets a bit too much speed coming down the stairs and is out of commission for a while. The other letters in the alphabet house try to work without the essential letter and decide that noble O will take E's place.

A tells the other letters: "That's right. Starting right NOW, it's O instead of E. That's it, poriod."

Things go awry after that. Though the other letters try to be helpful - speaking on talk shows, spreading the word about E in their travels - E does not seem to get well. The narrator is eventually told by the other letters to stop using their "bod-riddon buddy" in the book's text, and suddenly, E is "out of bod and roady to go back to work. Just in timo for...ThE End."

Lichtenheld's ever-comical side speeches and speech bubbles, along with the detailed illustrations, add humor and connections for readers (like the Targot bag!).

5 comments:

  1. I love everything about E-mergency! It is chock-full of clever puns and acronyms. The "Frequency of Use" graph is a fun addition.

    I hope you and your family had a nice Christmas.

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  2. what a wonderful concept. and it sounds as if it has been delightfully executed...or is that oxocutod.

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  3. I love clever books like this!

    It reminds a little of ALPHABOAT by Michael Chesworth, an all time favorite of mine that doesn't get nearly as much attention as it deserves. If you're looking for more fresh, clever alphabet puns, by all means check this one out!

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  4. Haha. Reminds me of a book or story by - I think - Walter Abish (not a children's book) - I think it was written without using the letter 'e'.
    Try it. It's hard.

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  5. Did the kids like E-mergency, Mike?

    You are so clever, Brattcat!

    I ordered Alphaboat, David (though it is out-of-print).

    There are so many books by Walter Abish, Sharon. If you think of the title, I would like more information. It is so hard not to use E!

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