Written by Kimberlee Gard and illustrated by Sandie Sonke

In this “Language is Fun!” book, the shy vowels take some convincing from the letter ‘Y’ to play a Red Rover style game. In this game, the consonants are trying to make words, which doesn’t work so well when the vowels don’t join in.They feel different than their consonant friends and they don’t really want to call attention to themselves. ‘Y’ knows how they feel, because (as he explains) he’s a little different as well. Sometimes he acts like a vowel and sometimes he acts like a consonant. Fortunately, ‘Y’ talks the bashful vowels into being part of the game (“Every word needs a vowel!”) and it is so much fun!

Bright, colorful anthropomorphic letters dance across the pages and simple clean lines make an attractive read. This story will work well in the lower grades where teachers want to introduce or reinforce the concept of vowels and consonants.