A Is for Musk Ox (review)

There's trouble right from the start in this jokey not-really-an-alphabet book—a die-cut chomp of the apple on the cover reveals an eager musk ox peering out at the viewers. Much to the dismay of the officious zebra, who's apparently entrusted with the smooth unfolding of the story, the musk ox decides this alphabet book should "do something different." The chipper ox starts making nearly every letter about musk oxen (for A, "Musk oxen are awesome! Plus, we live in the Arctic, which includes some of Alaska"), even when it initially seems like it's not ("J is for joseph"—because that's the musk ox's name). Even the musk ox's concession of "Z is for zebra" turns out to be an excuse to show an embarrassing baby picture of the zebra. While Bingham's Z Is for Moose (BCCB 4/12) still takes this year's cake for disrupted alphabets, this is an amusing anti-authoritarian romp that's weirdly replete with solid and interesting information about musk oxen. Myers' art ramps up the absurdity, with a style that combines cartooning's freewheeling caricature with saturated painterly pigments to make the figures into goofy shiny toys. The staple comedic contrast between the cheerfully unflappable character and the driven-to-distraction counterpart plays out visually with the zebra's pipestem legs and bouncing eyebrows contrasting with the musk ox's contented solidity. Even the layout is comedic, with a faux-paper sign carefully positioning the musk ox's new entry name over the old one. This is best suited for youngsters who've moved on from alphabet books entirely and who will get a kick out of chaotic disarrangement of the old familiar formula.