Spread over 112 pages, 26 short stories (in alphabetical order) all imagine a different scenario inspired by their titular letters. By turns silly (J is a door made of jelly), quixotic (O introduces an owl and an octopus who search for problems), and macabre (Helen plummets to the sea from her half house in H), the stories perplex and delight in equal measure. The trim size is large, and the text spare, leaving lots of space for Jeffers' curious, imaginative artwork. Characters portrayed in a familiar style are present, accompanied this time by a menagerie of animals, objects, and anthropomorphized parsnips. But his customary brilliant palette is subdued. Flashes of color decorate predominant washes of watercolor gray, establishing a wary, even sinister undertone that plays well as a foil for the aggressively ludicrous subject matter. Threads between the stories and a circular arc that connects A to Z invite children to do their own investigations of all of the stories the alphabet contains.--Barthelmess, Thom Copyright 2014 Booklist