ALFIE THE APOSTROPHE

The lowly Apostrophe discovers that a little magic goes a long way in the Punctuation Talent Show. Little Alfie is sure that he doesn’t stand a chance, especially after watching the Question Marks rap out jokes?, and the Exclamation Points bound across the stage shouting cheers! But after making one letter disappear in “can’t,” transforming others in “won’t,” and best of all, uniting a toy and Dot, a volunteer from the audience, as “Dot’s doll,” he becomes “the Show’s shining star.” Donohue confines the contending punctuation to common uses only, but tucks in some wordplay (Hiram the shy Hyphen was “probably wishing he could dash away”) and Adinolfi’s brightly colored figures, though bearing smiling faces, actively posed limbs and the occasional item of dress, are still instantly recognizable. Donohue earns high marks for this lively debut—pair it with Robin Pulver’s Punctuation Takes a Vacation (2003, illustrated by Lynn Rowe Reed). (Picture book. 6-8)