Books
Email
Print
Alphabet books receive an A-plus
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 10, 2008
Welcome to your new and improved Young Reading column! Since I've been writing the column, all three of the Young girls have helped with book selection. Starting this week, Hannah, the oldest daughter, will be my reviewing sidekick.
"When I was a little kid and I wasn't outside, I was reading. So far, I've been sorting the thousands of books in our basement," says Hannah.
But lots of them have ended up in a pile to take to Hannah's room! We chose alphabet books this week because school is right around the corner, and fun alphabet books make learning much more palatable for young readers.
STUFF ON MY CAT PRESENTS: CATS A TO Z. By Mario Garza. Chronicle. Up to age 3. $6.99.
This board book might be aimed at the very young, but cat lovers of any age will be amused at the "stuff on cat" phenomenon that started on the Internet.
From www.stuffonmycat.com, Mario Garza has created an alphabet book that introduces toddlers to the alphabet using pictures featuring alphabetized "stuff" photographed on cats. The fat cat in the overalls for the letter O is hilarious, as is the cat wearing a curly Afro wig for W.
LOOK BEHIND. By Lola M. Schaefer and Heather Lynn Miller. HarperCollins. Ages 4-8. $16.99.
This is an alphabet book about ... animal posteriors.
Seriously.
Almost every type of animal rump is covered in this funny scientific study of the alphabet.
The illustrations are colorful, the text both informative and comical, and the premise very original.
Kids will love this book!
M IS FOR MISCHIEF. By Linda Ashman. Penguin. Ages 4-8. $16.99.
Each letter in this alphabet book is assigned to a mischievous child. Rhymes make up this funny book about children misbehaving alphabetically. The creative illustrations help tell the story of each child's escapade.
We particularly found Untidy Ursula humorous, in light of one of the rooms at our house: "As usual, Ursula's room is chaotic./Piled with junk, mundane and exotic --/ A wrecked ukele; buckets of dirt;/An unused umbrella; a torn undershirt;/An old unicycle, encrusted with rust;/Unearthly cobwebs: unspeakable dust:/Sticky utensils: unraveling rugs --/An untidy universe perfect for bugs./ Father, upset at this unsightly scene,/Says, ‘It's unkempt! I urge you to clean!'/ Ursula, peering from under a heap, /Utters, ‘I would, but I'm buried too deep.' "
TWENTY-SIX PRINCESSES. By Dave Horowitz. Penguin. Ages 5-10. $15.99.
Amusing for all ages, Twenty-six Princesses entertains us with 26 wacky princesses and the problems that they encounter while heading to the castle to find the prince. The quirky rhyming text goes with the cute illustrations of each princess. For example, "Princess Isabella has no umbrella" for the letter I shows a princess standing in the rain royally pouting. When all 26 princesses finally reach the ball to meet the prince, he is afraid of all of them because of their nutty personalities. A great book for little girls who are enamored with princesses!
L IS FOR LOLLYGAG: Quirky Words for a Clever Tongue. Chronicle. Ages 10 and up. 125 pages. $12.99.
Designed for older word aficionados, this alphabet book introduces a variety of words and phrases. "Kind of SAT prep, huh?" Hannah says. But from explaining the origin of such offbeat words as gumshoe (slang for detective, in case you were wondering) to giving the lowdown on "wearable words" (crinoline, gabardine, galligaskins, houndstooth, jodhpurs, lederhosen, organza and seersucker), this odd little book is far from quixotic (page 90: foolish, impractical). L is for Lollygag is fun enough to make you atwitter (page 11: excited in a nervous-bird kind of way) about words!
ALPHABET OF DREAMS. By Susan Fletcher. Simon & Schuster. Ages 12 and up. 417 pages. $6.99.
Mitra and Babak are the children of a Roman dignitary who was very powerful and unsuccessful at overthrowing the king. After killing the rest of the family, the king's army is out searching for the children. Mitra and Babak join the three magi and end up in Bethlehem so the Magi can meet the infant Jesus.
Using one of the best-known settings in history, the author recreates the story from a new perspective, one with daring proportions. Mitra and Babak learn about themselves while trying to unscramble Babak's prophetic dreams, a gift that brings adventure as well as danger.
Other neat alphabet books:
WHO PUT THE B IN THE BALLYHOO?: The Most Amazing, Bizarre and Celebrated Circus Performers. By Carlyn Beccia. Ages 5-10. Houghton Mifflin. $16.
T IS FOR TUGBOAT: Navigating the Seas from A to Z. Chronicle. Ages 3-8. $15.99.
THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET. By Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins. Ages 5 and up. $17.99.
■ Monica and Hannah Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com. View book reviews at the Journal in Education site at www.jie.journalnow.com or by visiting www.myspace.com/youngreading.
Email
Print
