It begins, as any good alphabet should, with A—an apricot tree. An Apricot falls to the ground. Suddenly the verse and pictures are off on a romp with the bees and the birds and the flowers, who fly, creep, crawl, and hum through the grasses of the meadow, the letters of the alphabet, and the pages of this fresh, alive picture book.

Unlike most alphabets, it has a villain, the huge-footed clucking monster who sends the meadow creatures into hiding and proceeds to devour the apricot.

Miska Miles lures her reader into the ecology of a meadow with an inquisitive eye and sensitive ear. Peter Parnall supplies the visual magic and the laughter.

From the dust jacket