Bill Mayer

In the foreward Mayer makes it clear that this alphabet book was inspired by the travel posters of the 1920s. While this leads to a beautiful, stylized collection of illustrations, I'm not sure that kids are going to understand most of what's going on here. Preschoolers fascinated with things that go might enjoy the book, but the letters aren't always apparent enough for the same audience to identify; I couldn't identify one of them without the key and I have a few years on the preschool crowd. The inclusion of a key to where the letters in each picture are hidden in two places, on both the back jacket and a page in the back of the book, helps those who are unable to decipher the puzzles. The illustations would make a lovely set of alphabet posters for decorative purposes, but I'm not sure how well this works as an actual alphabet book.… (more)