Learning the ABCs is especially appealing when an argyle-patterned "A" stands for apples, one of which has been pierced by a pair of arrows, and the other is a core being devoured by ants; and when "B" is made of brick, with a butterfly perched on its tiptop, a branch tapping its edges and a braid with blue ribbon swinging off the page. The magic of Kim Krans's wordless ABC Dream, aside from its exquisite illustrations, is in the stories untold. A reader might wonder, Is the hedgehog happy? What is that robin going to do with the ring it's inspecting in a rainstorm? Why do those beautiful tigers look so tired? By the time they get to the upside-down unicorn, readers have been inspired to create a thousand stories based on the spare pen-and-watercolor illustrations that accompany the letters of the alphabet.
Kids who enjoy Graeme Base's Animalia or Jean Marzollo's I Spy books will love the sly way Krans incorporates more objects and even actions into the scene than first appears--the lamb is leaning! The "Q" is quilted!--although this elegant picture book has none of the intentional clutter of either of those others. An answer key in the back will almost certainly reveal things readers didn't see on first viewing. With its intricate details, ample white space and bursting-out-of-the-page creatures, ABC Dream is a work of frameable art. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor