Agent A To Agent Z - Hardcover

Rash, Andy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439368820 ISBN 13: 9780439368827

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2004

Synopsis

A hilariously cool visit with the funniest group of spies since Boris & Natasha (of "Bullwinkle" fame).

Agent A is on Assignment to find the spy not in alignment --
Whose actions don't quite match his name. Want to join A in the game?
It might look easy, but it's not. Here's one alphabetic lot:
"Agent B correctly chooses
Blue, and so the Bomb defuses."
"Agent C is Crawling up
the window using suction Cups."
All the way from A to Z, not one dud rhyme will you see.
And it's all drawn with style and flash by the amazing Agent Rash.
Enjoy the mission! Best of luck.
And now this page will self-destruct.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 1-3--In a takeoff on Mission Impossible, cartoonist Rash sets up a clever plot for an alphabet book. The narrative begins before the title page when Agent A receives a message ordering him to find a bogus spy who does not use a word beginning with his or her initial. He sets off and makes his way through the list of agents, each of whom is described in a rhyming couplet ("Agent I is Incognito, posing as a large mosquito"). Some couplets scan better than others ("Agent C is Crawling up/the window using suction Cups"). "Agent N decodes a Note/to learn that it was one he wrote." "Agent W attacks/a spy she didn't know was Wax." However, the theme is fun and well executed. The humorous illustrations, drawn in ink and digitally colored, are filled with the stuff of spy thrillers: black backgrounds or frames, shadows, an overhead bulb casting a triangle of light in a dark office, and Agent A skulking around every corner. Small black smudges add texture. The spies themselves are especially ridiculous with their silly disguises, nutty kung-fu moves, and abundant mishaps. Youngsters may guess the surprise ending before this crazy caper concludes, but they'll definitely enjoy the mission.--Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr. 2. An alphabet book starring secret agents? With the success of movies like Spy Kids, it was only a matter of time. In Rash's second offering after his picture-book debut, The Robots Are Coming (2000), 26 spies--one for each letter of the alphabet--slink through the pages, performing tasks determined by his or her initial. Agent I travels Incognito; Agent V wriggles through a Vent; and Agent A must find the Answer: Have any operatives been neglecting their assignments? The A-Z premise yields some very silly missions ("Agent Q concealed in Quiche / A roll of secret microfiche"), and Rash's bumbling, poker-faced spies all seem to hail from Inspector Gadget by way of The Simpsons. Pitch-black backgrounds sliced by intersecting planes of color provide an appropriately gritty backdrop for the agents' hilarious antics, like the judo moves that cause Agent J to lose a shoe. This hip, hard-boiled romp has plenty of appeal, even for big kids who already know their letters. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439368820
• ISBN 13: 9780439368827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40