Delightful and deeply engrossing…
With wit, sensitivity, and insight, award-winning author W. Nikola-Lisa explores the key issue of verbal bullying in this fabulous concept picture book. The narrative consists of fancy, funny words starting with each letter of the alphabet that one can use instead of using an X word (the “X word” stands for all the “bad… angry… hurtful…” words that we use to hurl insults at others). Together, words and letterforms create a sense of harmony, emphasizing the story’s educational realism. The use of instantly recognizable abstracted portions of enlarged letterforms in black and white are pleasing to eyes, and readers will gleefully embrace the anarchy that the book’s high contrasting style design seems to unleash. A combination of wit, humor, and reflection, Nikola-Lisa’s sparkling prose is instantly winning and the narrative, which is down to vital essential skillfully captures the feelings of warmth and friendliness. He makes the book’s message unmissable with just a few antic lines. Young readers will have fun reciting the letters of the alphabet and demand a reread immediately whereas the older readers will be delighted to find a horde of rich vocabulary. The theme of anti-bullying gives the book a universal appeal. With his strong sense of delightful composition and a keen sense of what makes readers giggle, Nikola-Lisa has created a story which is both informative and engrossing. A fun way to initiate a talk about bullying, the book will make for a helpful educational resource for school classrooms and library shelves.