by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 02, 2010

Giles Andreae is a British cartoonist who created a famous cartoon ad campaign that was based on stick figures (according to Wikipedia). But I already knew he had a good sense of humor from his previous book, which was something about Pirate Dinosaurs... For this book, he teamed up with another British illustrator named Guy Parker-Rees. This time they'll peek in on the lives of animals in an alphabet book which is delightfully unpredictable.

It's called "K is for Kissing a Cool Kangaroo" - but the formula won't be as simple as that. Sometimes the verses present descriptions that are perfectly normal!

A is for Apple that grows on the tree.
B is for Busy and Big Bumblebee...

With these verses, it's up to the illustrator to find a way to make them more entertaining. For example, in the A illustration, Parker-Rees draws an aardvark that's balancing an armadillo as it reaches for a dangling apple!

And this obviously suggests a secret second way that the book can be enjoyed. Besides the animals provided in the text, the illustrator includes several other animals which also start with the same letter. In the B picture, it's a bison - in a boat, with a bear and a banana, beside a beaver who's holding a balloon! In the foreground there's even a tiny beetle. And above them there's an apple tree's branch - and it happens to be sprouting blossoms...

Each page lets the reader hunt the pictures for more things that begin with the new letter - with an answer key hidden at the end of the book. Andreae writes that E is for Elephant, but Parker-Rees also draws an eagle, plus an earthworm and emu (standing next to an egg). Andreae wrotes that G is for a Giant with a Garden, and Parker-Rees adds a goat and a gorilla - plus a goose, a giraffe, and even a gnu. Interestingly they're in a two-page picture which spreads over to the H page, so the Giant's Garden is next to a House. And the Gnu on the G page looks across in confusion, as he notices a hyena, a hamster, and a hen...

The book makes some uniquely British references. (Q is for "Quickly, I've cuddled the Queen!" while T, of course, stands for teatime.) But it seems like there's even a British tone to humor - as the poet adopts a tone that's both peremptory silly.

M is for mischievous monkey and mat
N is for naughty and No don't do that!

"I is for Igloo, a house made of Ice.
J is for jellybeans - ooh, they're so nice...

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