This is a rhyming litany of summertime woes
for pessimistic readers or, according to the title page,
"An alphabetical lexicon for the estivally
dispirited." The text ranges from "Ants that ate my
whole snack" and the "Bug that crawled down my
back" to the "Yacht that just sank in the lake"
and the "Zapper I touched by mistake." The last
spread depicts a boy looking through the window of an empty
classroom, with text that reads, "Twenty-six reasons this
season's a bummer;/At least I can say there's no school in the
summer." Each letter appears in upper- and lowercase with
a single sentence beneath a framed watercolor illustration. The
entire frame overlays a black-and-white background with a
miniature pattern that picks up the theme of the painting. For
example, tiny outline drawings of pails and shovels are the
background for "C is for Castles the tide washed
away." The bold, cartoonlike illustrations are reminiscent
of Tedd Arnold's work.
School Library Journal
