A Call for a New Alphabet by Jef Czekaj; illus. by the author Primary Charlesbridge 40pp. 2/11 978-1-58089-228-5 $12.95 Paper ed. 978-1-58089-229-2 $5.95

X is disgruntled. Of all the letters in Alphabet City, he seems to have the least to do and always finds himself near the end - third from last, to be exact. Hopping onto a soapbox, he incites the other letters to question the authority of spelling rules and alphabetical sequence. Isn't Q tired of having to spend so much time with U? Aren't / and E tired of switching places every time C comes along? Then breads them the rules of the Alphabet Constitution, which allows them to vote to create a new alphabet in which each letter may choose a new place and role. Czekaj gives his block letters attributes that every alphabet book- savvy child will appreciate: //wears a hardhat and high heels, while Z sports a zipper and has a habit of boring people to sleep ("zzz"). The eclectic design mixes regular typesetting with word balloons and keeps the pace lively with full spreads, inset boxes, and panels. In the end, X is the deciding vote (it's 12 to 12 because A abstained), but when he has a dream about being other letters who have to work much harder than he does, he realizes that his lot isn't so bad after all. So the alphabet as we know it lives on - at least until the next vote. LOLLY ROBINSON