Linda Vander Heyden

Just when you think there is no new way to present the alphabet, along comes Hannah and her order for a tall sandwich. In this tale told in rhyming couplets, Hannah asks McDougal at the deli for an “A to Z sandwich” on thick, whole wheat bread. “Avocados and bean sprouts—fresh carrots galore. / Dill pickles, egg salad—those figs I adore!” In the double-page–spread illustration, Hannah gazes rapturously at the bits and pieces of sandwich fixings that McDougal is furiously chopping.

How high can you count? A hundred? A million? Maybe even higher? Did you have any trouble learning to count that high – or, as in the new book “A Horse Named Jack” by Linda Vander Heyden, illustrated by Petra Brown, does counting help you keep track of the trouble you’re in? More than anything in the world, Jack loves children. When kids show up on the farm, he romps and plays and smiles. But when nobody comes to visit, Jack gets really sad. And when he’s sad, he stays inside his stable and he’s bored.

Jack, a big, dapple-gray draft horse, loves it when the neighborhood kids come visit him on the farm. One day the kids don’t show up, and Jack gets bored fast. “So Jack performs his favorite trick— / He lifts his latch with one soft click.” And with that Jack trots through the farm and down the road, getting into some mild mischief in the neighbor’s garden before dashing back to his yard. Once safely home, Jack is greeted by the neighborhood kids (who were just running late).