Backseat A-B-See

May 14, 2012
In a visual departure from van Lieshout’s previous books, this alphabetical tribute to road signs rolls along glossy black pages designed to look like highway blacktop with a dotted white center line. Each letter of the alphabet is paired with a familiar road sign (No Entry, Stop, Yield, etc.). Van Lieshout keeps the formula simple, allowing readers to make their own connections between the white capital letters and the images (Q stands for “Quack,” which appears on a yellow sign showing ducks crossing). Backseat drivers will enjoy learning the language of the road along with their ABCs. Ages 3–6. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

December 1, 2014

PreS-A perfect book for families on the go. It opens with a child in a car and the words "Vroom! Vroom!/From the backseat, /what do you see?" and proceeds to move through the alphabet via road signs-A is for "Airport," B is for "Bike Route," and C is for "Children at Play." The bold graphic images pop on the blacktop backgrounds, with the capital letters and the broken line in the center on the pages appearing in white. Great for encouraging observation skills and visual literacy. This board book belongs in every car seat.

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2012
Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be another idea for an alphabet book--buckle up for this one! From the backseat of a car, a road trip becomes an "I Spy" game of road signs. "Vroom! Vroom! What do you see?" A = Airport; B = Bike Route; D = Detour; J = Junction; L = Library; Q = Quack (ducks crossing); U = US 101; V = Van Accessible; X = X-ING. The only stretch is the letter Z; the symbol is a person lying on a bed, indicating hotel/motel with a series of Zs for sleeping. The digital illustrations are the perfect medium to convey this clever concept. There is no text other than the words on the signs, which are real, using familiar block figures. The graphic page design is dramatic with the vivid sign colors (blue, red, green, yellow) contrasting sharply with the black background. The taxi-yellow car with a round child's head in the backseat is viewed only on the first and last pages, while the crosswise, wide white dashes denote car lanes and roads, unifying the design throughout and suggesting motion on a trip. The license plate on the car on the cover says, "ABC*FUN," and it is! (Alphabet book. 3-6)

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July 1, 2012
A journey along a highway allows for alphabetical connections to road signs, including [cf2]A[cf1] for [cf2]airport[cf1], [cf2]D[cf1] for [cf2]detour[cf1], [cf2]O[cf1] for [cf2]one way[cf1], etc. A few that are altered to fit the content are a stretch ([cf2]Q[cf1] for [cf2]quack[cf1] is a duck crossing sign). The crisp digital illustrations in bold road-sign colors are dramatically stark.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 1-With a "Vroom! Vroom!," a yellow sedan travels a highway with a young child looking out from the the backseat. Along the journey, alphabetically organized road signs pan by. An uppercase white letter is paired with a corresponding road sign: "A"-"Airport," "B"-"Bike Route," and "C"- "Children at Play." Detour, library, no entry, one way, and stop are some of the more commonly known symbols while less common ones include helicopter, junction, and rail. The text is limited, giving full attention to the signage, which is set against a black roadway with white line markings. The front and back endpapers mirror the same highway design found within the book. There is only a slight overlap with Tana Hoban's I Read Signs (Greenwillow, 1983). Van Lieshout's work is for a younger audience and has a narrower focus than John Searcy's Signs in Our World (DK, 2006). Backseat A-B-See fits well into transportation lessons and could be used independently or with groups of children. This is a worthy concept picture book where more current materials on signs and symbols are needed.-Lynn Vanca, freelance librarian, Akron, OH

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.