Brian P. Cleary does it again, with another addition to his "Words Are Categorical" series. This time he takes on alliteration and laces the book with excellent examples. (Did you see what I did there?) Before the text even begins, the illustration shows a scholarly cat pointing to an easel that displays the definition on the dedication page. To help make the connection between the alliterative words, they are color-coded. So, "Frances froze...frowned" are all in blue, while "start...same sound" are in pink, etc. It makes a nice visual cue for readers who haven't quite grasped the concept yet. Other examples of alliteration pop up in the pictures, such as the take-out box labeled "Pete's Pizza" or the map with the location marked as "Stop at Stella's." Cleary makes sure to explain that it's the sounds that create the alliteration, so the letters do not always have to be identical. He lists places you may notice these sounds like "in talk and texts and tweeting." And at the end of the book there is a chart listing examples of alliteration with a single letter, two letters or more (like digraphs or syllables), and some of the sounds that can be made by different letters.
All in all, an amazing and astute addition to any classroom or library. (I did it again.)
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