I spy / with my little eye / something beginning with Aa begins this alphabet/art/puzzle book. Magritte's painting Son of Man on the facing page features a bowler-hatted businessman with an apple suspended in front of his face. Most of the objects Micklethwait challenges kids to find in the full-page reproductions of paintings are less obvious. Some are small enough to make those pages of the book ineffective for reading aloud in the classroom, and that's a pity, given what the book has to offer. The author's stated intention of introducing young children to fine art, her choice of paintings, the handsome book design, and the quality of paper and reproduction take this beyond the usual alphabet book. Still, while y may be one of the more challenging letters for writers of alphabet books, the choice of yacht both here and in A Russian ABC (Mayers, below) tells you something about the intended audience--most kids would call it a boat. A key at the back identifies objects, artists, and paintings. (Reviewed Nov. 1, 1992)

Illustrated with reproductions in color. Using the guessing game 'I spy with my little eye' as a unifying concept, Micklethwait has devised a unique alphabet book that is also a superb introduction to art appreciation. For each painting, a letter of the alphabet serves as a clue to a specific detail beginning with that letter. The premise is as exciting as the book is elegant.

A childhood game becomes an unusual alphabet book: readers are challenged to search fine paintings (their dates ranging from a 15th-century illuminated book to a 1967 painting by David Hockney; all but one from Western art), exquisitely reproduced, for ``something beginning with'' successive letters: a task leading naturally to examination of the entire painting and naming many things within it. Some are harder than others, but the rewards are commensurably greater. The paintings are well chosen for quality, variety, and appeal; a key provides identifications and locations. An unusual and effective approach to familiarizing young children with art. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-8)"

Gr 2-6-- A is for apple, B is for ball, but in this alphabet game the apple is found in Magritte's Son of Man , and the ball in Rousseau's Football Players . Some of the word choices are obvious, but it will take a sharp eye to spy the G for guinea pig in van Kessel's Still Life with Fruit and Flowers on a Table , the P for peacock in Crivelli's The Annunciation with St. Emidius , or the Y for yacht in Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Micklethwait has chosen splendid examples of museum art, which are beautifully reproduced on glossy pages in this oversized picture book. Here are some of the Western world's greatest paintings (along with one from Asia), to be puzzled over, explored, and enjoyed. Adults sharing this book with children will appreciate the richness of the pictures, the interweaving of art styles and periods, and the knowledge that the book gives youngsters the opportunity to become familiar, in the most pleasant of ways, with a gallery of great paintings. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ