Kate de Goldi writes surprising and warmly hilarious books where sensitive children make imaginative sense of the world around them. Perry's grandmother, Honora Lee, lives at Santa Lucia, a rest home, but never remembers Perry's visits, let alone who she is or if she is a girl or a boy. What she does remember, though, are bits of poetry, sharp and cheeky quips, and how to steal mints from other residents' rooms. Perry notices Honora's interest in the alphabet, and the great fun and interest of the book is in the creation of "The ACB" book as it follows the serpentine, sometimes broken logic of Honora and her roomies at Santa Lucia. For example, "S is for Sideways Geoffrey," who always seems to end up horizontal in his chair and has to watch the television the wrong way. Deceptively simply told for all its sophistication, and so smart, too.