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When the letter E is sent to the hospital, the Letter O reluctantly agrees to take her place.
Children must now read menus that list moatloaf and jollo instead of meatloaf and jello and eat their lunch in cafotorias. Parents start reading the headlines in the Daily Nows and driving cars that make a boop, boop sound.
Despite these changes, E is not getting better. An investigation takes the letters of the alphabet around the world, but the individual they discover still using the letter E turns out to be someone ‘close at hand.’
Lichtenheld’s illustrations, which were rendered in ink, pastels, and colored pencils, add humor to the story. The letters of the alphabet have personalities, and their dialogue becomes part of the wordplay used throughout the story.
The Letter Q holds the Letter U’s hand and says “I’m quite useless without you, U!” The Z mentions being sleepy; the X talks about spots. Sometimes the letters stand alone on the page, but often they are grouped together to make a word. When the letters L, A, and W stand together they are dressed as police officers, and when the letter E falls down the stairs, the letters arrange themselves to spell OUCH and RU OK.
The letters are the main characters in the story, but punctuation marks and a number make brief appearances as well. Observant readers will find an interesting chart about the alphabet on the endpapers and word puns on the book jacket and front matter.
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E-mergency!