ALA Booklist (Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2008)

Our journey begins on the title page, as two Victorian children and pet gazelle slip away from their father, treasure map in hand, and embark on an alphabetical path through a sewer populated with every sort of ghoul, only to emerge safe at home at the end. Following the "A is for … " format, Gaiman's text takes the form of 13 tight, evocative rhyming couplets, hand-lettered by Grimley. Page turns divide each couplet, moving the action forward and building the sense of mystery. The illustrations do double duty, telling the children's story and filling each letter's page with suitably ghastly, nominal matter. There's some disturbing stuff on display (the sewer walls are lined with children bound in chains, straitjackets, and rusty manacles), but the character of the pictures, spiky and knobby and childlike, and a palette of beiges accented by muted pastels, mitigates the creepiness. In the end, Gaiman and Grimley have combined forces to produce an acrid, gothic confection that bubbles with vitriol and wit.

Kirkus Reviews

Normal abecedarian fodder gets a poke in the ribcage with this most unusual alphabet tale. A boy and a girl clad in rumpled Victorian weeds and their stalwart gazelle navigate both monsters and madmen in hopes of reaching their final destination. Unfortunately, along the way the girl is taken captive and it's up to the boy and gazelle to rescue her from a series of ingenious nightmares. Each letter of the alphabet occupies one half of a rhyming couplet, objects that begin with each letter appearing on the pages in a sort of Gothic Animalia (Graeme Base, 1986). Grimly's gleefully ghoulish Tim Burton-esque line-and-watercolor illustrations are the star here. The letters have a haphazard relationship to their couplets, as with "Z waits alone and it's not for a thing," and there is one instance in which two letters appear out of order, rendering this alphabet "not to be relied upon." Fans of both creators' works will seek this title out, as will adults of the macabre persuasion. Children appear to be a secondary consideration. (Picture book. 7-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Acrawl with evildoers, Gaiman's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Wolves in the Walls) rhyming abecedary charts the perils of two children and their limpid-eyed pet gazelle. With the words “A is for Always, that's where we embark;/ B is for Boat, pushing off in the dark,” the stern-faced Victorian boy and girl clamber into a bathtub-shaped boat and sail into the bowels of a Dickensian sewer system. An oily brown map suggests a treasure hunt, and the seekers must evade subhuman monsters. Darting past stone-walled quays and rusty pipes (“F is for Fear”), they see unluckier children held in cages and soup pots by freakish octopi and bristling goblins (“H is for 'Help me!' ”). When the girl is kidnapped by a fleshy ogre, the boy and gazelle brave a Sweeney Todd meat-pie operation (“O is for Ovens, far under the street”) and ghoulish Pirates to save her. Grimly (the Wicked Nursery Rhymes volumes) pictures the trio's gruesome ordeal in butcher-shop hues of meaty pink and fatty beige. With Lemony Snicket as a reference point, young goths might eat this up. All the same, Gaiman and Grimly frequently sacrifice humor to fetishize the grotesque; adults might like this best. Ages 5–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

School Library Journal (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Gr 3-5 A sophisticated, interactive alphabet tale in which even the letters break the expected pattern. Thirteen rhyming couplets spin the story of two siblings and their pet gazelle who sneak past their father, board a small boat, and follow a stream into a mysterious underworld to search for a treasure. Skillful narrative and visual storytelling combine to present a complex adventure that unravels through multilayered text and illustrations, challenging readers to ponder the numerous levels of plot. When the sister is tempted ashore by villains holding candy and captured, her brother follows in hot pursuit, rushing through a labyrinth realm filled with pirates, monsters, trolls, and other fearsome creatures. Youngsters can mull over questions about the nature of the treasure seeking (the cache turns out to be pretty unappealing) and why W precedes V in the alphabet sequence ("warnings" before "vile deeds"). The gothic illustrations, done in sepia tones and faded color washes, ensure that readers remain riveted throughout the story, since there are spine-chilling details at every turn. Images of objects beginning with the letter featured on the page add to the fun. This is the right book for those who find satisfaction and pleasure in creepy and sinister tales. Susannah Richards, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT