M is for Mischief

M is for Mischief: An A to Z of Naughty Children by Linda Ashman. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. 2008.

This one is a fun and playful alphabet book. It's a poetry book as well. Each letter of the alphabet gets a poem--some better than others, but all enjoyable enough. My personal favorite is Untidy Ursula.

Untidy Ursula

As usual, Ursula's room is chaotic,
Piled with junk, mundane and exotic--
A wrecked ukelele; buckets of dirt;
An unused umbrella; a torn undershirt;
An old unicycle, encrusted with rust;
Unearthly cobwebs; unspeakable dust;
Sticky utensils; unraveling rugs--
An untidy universe perfect for bugs.

Father, upset at this unsightly scene,
Says, "It's unkempt! I urge you to clean!"
Ursula, peering from under a heap,
Utters, "I would, but I'm buried too deep."

I do recommend this both as an alphabet and poetry book. (The illustrations are fun as well!) But it's one for older children--school-age children.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers