A little boy fills his sound box with words beginning with the letters "x, y, z."

One day in Alphabetland, all the letters came out to begin their alphabet day. All the letters, that is, except for X, Y and Z, who were holed up in Z's house. Tired of always being last - and being crammed together on the final page of the Alphabet books - X, Y and Z set out to have their own showcase book.

December, 1932 In the bathroom of a Belgian hotel, a French spymaster photographs top-secret documents – the operating instructions of the cipher machine, Enigma. A few weeks later a mathematician in Warsaw begins to decipher the coded communications of the Third Reich and lays the foundations for the code-breaking operation at Bletchley Park. The co-operation between France, Britain and Poland is given the cover-name 'X, Y & Z'. December, 1942 It is the middle of World War Two. The Polish code-breakers have risked their lives to continue their work inside Vichy France, even as an uncertain future faces their homeland. Now they are on the run from the Gestapo. People who know the Enigma secret are not supposed to be in the combat zone, so MI6 devises a plan to exfiltrate them. If it goes wrong, if they are caught, the consequences could be catastrophic for the Allies. Based on original research and newly released documents, X, Y & Z is the exhilarating story of those who risked their lives to protect the greatest secret of World War Two.

Little a fills his box with things beginning with the letter "a" and is treated to a ride by an astronaut.

Jane Belk Moncure's acclaimed Sound Box Books have been an educational standard for nearly 35 years. We've updated and enhanced this beloved series to meet current educational standards and reflect cultural and social changes. The text appears in a clear, sans-serif typeface and paragraph form, and rebus icons trigger recognition of target words. Continuing a long tradition, these editions are sure to develop confident readers, expand their vocabularies, and inspire a love for reading that will outlast their school years.