Book excerpt: Designed to help children develop their vocabulary and learn to recognise whole words, this delightful book makes an ideal first ABC dictionary for young children on the threshold of learning to read. Using a range of delightful animal characters throughout the book to depict the familiar, everyday words, artist Chris Fisher adds an abundance of humour and charm that will have readers coming back time and time again. Each head word is incorporated into a simple sentence, to show word usage, and accompanied by an illustration. Key letters are shown very big, so children can copy or trace them with their fingers, and the full alphabet runs across the top of each spread, in capitals and lower case. The book opens with an introduction for adults, explaining how to get the most out of the dictionary, and closes with a range of fun spreads that explore simple concepts such as colour, shapes and numbers. ABE 3-5