LMNO Peas. DVD. 6 min. with tchr’s. guide. Weston Woods. 2013. ISBN 978-0-545-57155-5. $59.95; CD, ISBN 978-0-575-57156-2: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-575-57154-8: $29.95.
PreS-Gr 1–Keith Baker’s incredibly inventive occupation-based alphabet book (Beach Lane, 2010) has been beautifully designed and hilariously interpreted by premier animators, Soup2Nuts. You will never look at little green peas the same way again! Tiny round pea people cavort about with delightful vocals 
by Crystal Taliefero and backup singers, including the Oakview Elementary Choir. The peas literally animate the alphabet, illuminating different activities and jobs for each of the 26 letters, beginning with acrobats, astronauts, and artists. They humorously demonstrate actions and occupations like climbers and campers; painters, poets, and plumbers; quitters and quarterbacks. The DVD is punctuated by infectious rhythms and rhymes that young children will want to emulate again and again. Baker’s colorful letters are constantly swarming with unique pea people. Turn on the read-along subtitles so students can follow the highlighted letters and words easily. A teacher’s guide is included, as is an outstanding interview with the author/illustrator. “We are peas! The alphabet peas! Now tell us, please, who are you?” This perfect lead-in invites teachers and kids to follow the pattern with other veggies. Never has the alphabet been more entertaining.–Lonna Pierce,MacArthur & Thomas Jefferson Schools,Binghamton, NY