Let’s Start at the Very Beginning
Categories: Children's Books
Lolly Robinson has a great article in the March/April issue of The Horn Book Magazine about what makes a good alphabet book.
“Trying to figure out what makes a good alphabet book is like determining what makes a good meal for a child. It’s a matter of taste as well as developmental maturity. A baby might be partial to mashed peas, a toddler to plain pasta, and a six-year-old may prefer the textural complexity of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The child who is still learning to recognize and name letters doesn’t want to be overwhelmed, while one who has mastered this trick is looking for a little more action and maybe even a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, there are alphabet books for every taste — hundreds, in fact, from the simplest name-the-letter books to those that present puzzles and challenges for older elementary-age children and even adults. Alphabet books stopped being just for pre- and beginning readers long ago.”
I couldn’t agree more! The diversity of high quality alphabet books is really amazing. You can read Lolly Robinson’s entire article here, but I thought her bibliography so good, I’ve detailed the titles she discusses here.
Happy Reading!
Peter Catalanotto’s Matthew A.B.C. will resonate with anyone who knows what it's like to hear his or her first name called only to discover upon turning around that the caller was referring to another person. After the principal wonders how Mrs. Tuttle tells the twenty-five Matthews in her class apart, we are treated to a cumulatively wacky alphabetical rundown of the traits distinguishing one boy from the next. ""Nearly naked"" Matthew N. wears briefs and a superhero cape, while ""fiercely tense"" Matthew T. inclines rigidly against his chair like a tin soldier.
Firefighters A to Z by Chris Demarest presents a day-in-the-life of firefighters whose job it is to answer the call to put out fires and save property and lives. From alarms to zipping to bed at the end of the day, this one is a winner
Demarest adds to his boy-friendly series of concept books with this alphabetic tribute to the armed forces, Alpha Bravo Charlie: The Military Alphabet. For each letter, the author-illustrator includes the International Communications Alphabet–designated word and the U.S. Navy's signal flag.
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert is a classic. “Apple to Zucchini, come take a look. Start eating your way through this alphabet book.'' So begins this delectable feast of fruits and vegetables, in a diverse and plentiful array. Each turn of the page reveals a mouth-watering arrangement of foods
Children who are tired of staid concept books will welcome Lisa Campbell Ernst’s The Turn-Around, Upside-Down Alphabet Book-it literally turns the alphabet on its ear. Each page contains a large block letter enclosed in a square that, when viewed from a different direction-left, right, or upside-down- transforms into an entirely different object. For example, when "J" is rotated clockwise, it becomes, in turn, an elephant's trunk, a candy cane, and a monkey's tail.
Fleming's exuberant Mouse takes on the alphabet with all the industriousness of Martha Stewart and a lot more joyful abandon in Alphabet Under Construction. Gluing, measuring, and welding Mouse builds letters on well-designed pages saturated with color.
The Accidental Zucchini: An Unexpected Alphabet by Max Grover is a wacky alphabet book. The clever title describes a wonderfully crazy world in which zucchini crop up everywhere. Readers see airplanes, cars, fences, gumballs, jewelry, and even road signs made from the ubiquitous green vegetable.
Brian Floca’s Racecar Alphabet is a visual history of car racing. At letter A, the racecars have spoked wheels, and the drivers sit up high and wear goggles. At letter B, a flag is waved and a race begins. By J, the cars look much more like modern racecars with their long, narrow shape, and by W, the illustration shows a modern NASCAR-style car, which has whacked a wall. At letter Z the checkered flag goes to the champion
From the start, when readers discover this book's pages open vertically instead of horizontally, it's obvious that Jonas is bent on taking a different approach to the tale of Noah and the Ark, in Aardvarks, Disembark! After a brief recap of the familiar Bible story, Noah takes a roll call (aardvarks to zebras) and discovers that there are still many animals waiting to disembark. Readers are then treated to 13 spreads devoted to the more exotic leftovers--such unusual creatures as aurochs and gerenuks, lechwes, peludos and urumutums.
No bibliography of alphabet books would be complete without the gold standard in the genre: Bill Martin’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Try it as a book with cd, a book with cassette, or go old school with just the book and provide your own jazzy rhythms.
Bob McLeod’s Superhero ABC is turbocharged with fun for both new and capable readers, McLeod lines up a roster of superheroes kids won't find in existing cartoons or comic book: Astro-Man, Always Alert for an Alien Attack despite his asthma; Goo Girl, whose weapon of choice is Great Gobs of Goo; and Odor Officer, monitor of playground farts.
In V for Vanishing: An Alphabet of Endangered Animals, from armadillo to zebra, each letter of the alphabet, printed in large upper and lower case, begins the name of an endangered species. Mullins includes the name of the specific species and the scientific name, as well as the country or region of the world that is home to the animal.
David Pelletier’s The Graphic Alphabet, a Caldecott honor winner, is an alphabet book for older readers. The illustrator, who is a graphic designer, places the emphasis on letterforms, color, and design, presenting each letter inside a rich black square in a way that reflects the meaning of the word beneath it. "Avalanche" shows a thick, yellow A on a black background, with portions of the top of the letter torn off and tumbling down the side. "Bounce" shows two dotted lines arcing up to indicate the path of a ball. With a little thought, we see that the arcs indicate a B tipped on its side.
Laura Rankin’s The Handmade Alphabet features exquisitely detailed, realistically portrayed hands of different ages, sexes, and colors demonstrate the positions for the manual alphabet used in American Sign.
Finally, The Hidden Alphabet by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (this year’s Caldecott honoree) surprises at each page turn as each letter with a word that begins with that letter transforms into something new. Each shiny, thick black page features a cut-away through which children can view vibrantly colored objects. By lifting the flap, children will be surprised to discover that the object actually forms part of a letter. Very cool.
