“This poet brings a sparkling consciousness to the page and an exciting new voice to American poetry.”—Library Journal “Most appealing is Olstein's sensitive, quietly pained and earnest tone, w hich, more than the unusual subject, is the real star of this book.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review In Lisa Olstein’s daring new book, an unnamed lepidopterist—living in a hut on the edge of an unnamed village—is drawn ever deeper into the engrossing world of moths, light, and seeing. Structured as a naturalist’s notebook, the four-part sequence of prose poems create a layered pilgrimage into the consequences of intensive study, the trials of being an outsider, and the process of metamorphosis. In an interview, Olstein once said, “I don’t want poetry to limit itself to reflecting or recapitulating experience; I want it to be an experience.” I have learned to peer at specimens through a small crack at the center of my fist. It’s a habit herders use for distance: vision is concentrated, the crude tunnel brings into focus whatever small expanse lies on the other side, something in the narrowing magnifies what remains. At the table, my hand tires of clenching, my left eye of closing, my right of its squint, but the effect: a blurred carpet of wing becomes a careful weave of eyelashes colored, curved, exquisitely laid . . . Lisa Olstein is the author of the Hayden Carruth Award–winning volume Radio Crackling, Radio Gone. She earned her MFA from the University of Massachusetts and directs the Juniper Initiative for Literary Arts and Action in Amherst, Massachusetts.

When a set of alphabet blocks disappears, the hunt is on to put them back in order.

Little i can't wait to meet his friends at school, but there's just one problem: he can't find his dot anywhere? Each letter offers a replacement—an acorn from Little a, a balloon from Little b, a clock from Little c—but nothing seems quite right. Adorable illustrations teach alphabet letters and sounds with a surprising and satisfying ending to Little i's search.

Missing Letters is not a typical alphabet book-it's a word game that teaches the importance of each letter by illustrating what happens when they're removed from words. The results are surprising as words and meaning are transformed. It can be dramatic as Will becomes ill and play becomes pay, or it can be funny when peaks become peas and banana becomes 'baaa'. Lively illustrations and a diverse cast of characters accentuate the changes, helping children increase their phonemic awareness-the ability to hear sounds not only in the starts of words but also in the middle or end. Missing Letters can also extend beyond the pages by thinking of your own words that change when you remove a letter. It's accessible to children of any age. Young pre-readers can focus on the missing sounds and compare the illustrations, while early readers can look at the spellings to spot the difference.

Poetry

While on vacation in Alphabet City, Little e and the other lowercase letters repair an old fire truck and come to the rescue when a fire engulfs the letter-making factory.

Follow Bear from A to Z as he hunts for a cake thief in a hilarious alphabet book crossed with a whodunit. There has been a terrible crime, Bear tells us. Someone has STOLEN a delicious chocolate cake! Bear sets off to find the culprit, questioning characters and compiling clues from A to Z. Among the suspects: a gingerbread man (G) with a bite out of his head, a kite (K) that may be above the law, and an octopus (O) with grabby tentacles. But — hold on — are those crumbs on Bear’s page? Is that frosting on his face? Looks like our narrator is a little unreliable! And it appears our culprit might be the one that Bear wants readers to suspect the least of all. . . . Author Eoin McLaughlin’s sly, cheeky humor takes the alphabet book to inventive new heights, while best-selling illustrator Marc Boutavant’s smart and striking graphic-style art matches the irreverent tone. Young ABC learners and older fans of funny stories will laugh out loud at Bear’s uproarious “investigation” and his anything-but-usual suspects.