NOTES: Alphabet Books, 2 & up
Wendy E. Betts
K is for Kiss Good Night by Jill Sardegna. Illustrated by
Michael Hays
The A to Z Beastly Jamboree written and illustrated by Robert
Bender
Animal Action ABC written by Karen Pandell. Photographs by Art
Wolfe and Nancy Sheehan
I Spy: An Alphabet in Art selected by Lucy Micklethwait
* The Handmade Alphabet illustrated by Laura Rankin
Pigs from A to Z written and illustrated by Arthur Geisert
* Animalia written and illustrated by Graeme Base
NOTES FROM THE WINDOWSILL ISSN 1078-8697
An electronic journal of book reviews. Copyright 1996 Wendy E. Betts.
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Vol. 4, No. 11d Picture Books: Alphabets, ages 2 & up 11/19/96
__ K is for Kiss Good Night_ by Jill Sardegna. Illustrated by
Michael Hays. Doubleday, 1994; Dell Picture Yearling 1996
(0-440-41218-8) $ 6.99 pb
As three young children from different families quietly get ready
for bed, a soothing, alphabetic text evokes nighttime rituals
and images: "pillow deep and downy, quilt pulled high beneath my
chin, robe hanging on the bedpost, seeing shapes on the ceiling."
The soft, impressionist pictures of cherubic-looking children get
dimmer and more muted, as the children get cozier and closer to
sleep. Fine just as a bedtime book, this is also a natural-feeling,
unforced introduction to the progression of the alphabet. (2-4)
__ The A to Z Beastly Jamboree_ written and illustrated by Robert
Bender. Lodestar, 1996 (0-525-67520-5) $14.99
Dark backgrounds, illuminated by glowing, brilliant colors,
create a rich, eye-catching look for this humorous alphabet.
Each letter is associated with a simple phrase, in which animals
do something rather unusual; the illustration shows the animals
interacting with the letter itself. I especially liked "Narwhals
needle," which showed several Narwhals sticking their horns
through a letter N. Each picture is strikingly framed by a line
of animals: observant readers will notice that the frame
changes in two ways with each letter, so what started as a
rectangle of just ants ends as one that shows every animal from
ant to zebra. A fun, very attractive book. (2-8)
__ Animal Action ABC_ written by Karen Pandell. Photographs by Art
Wolfe and Nancy Sheehan. Dutton, 1996 (0-525-45486-1) $15.99
"Action" is the key word in this book, which imaginatively
combines photographs of animals in the wild with crisp photos of
children imitating them: Flapping their wings like a macaw,
Growling like a grizzly, Howling like a wolf pup, even Inflating
their throats like a frigatebird (with some help from a red
balloon.) The pictures are very bright and glossy, but also
spirited and dynamic. A rhyming text describes some of the
habits of the different animals; notes in the back offer more
detailed information. (3-7)
__ I Spy: An Alphabet in Art_ selected by Lucy Micklethwait.
Greenwillow, 1992 (0-688-11679-5); Mulberry, 1996 (0-688-14703-5)
$8.95
Although I loved the follow-ups to this book, _I Spy Two Eyes_, _I
Spy a Lion_ and _I Spy a Freight Train_, this is the first time I've
seen the original. Surprisingly enough, I didn't enjoy it quite
as much as the others. As with the previous titles, the book
reproduces (quite beautifully) 26 paintings and asks the reader
to look for something in them, but this time rather than looking
for a specific object, you look for something that begins with a
letter of the alphabet. I found that actually having to think as
I looked made the experience of looking less focused and intense
than it was before; looking for a specific object somehow made me
see the whole painting and wonder about what that object--sometimes
something quite small and insignificant--was doing there. Perhaps
some readers will have just the opposite experience. In any event,
it's a gorgeous collection of art, including paintings with the kind
of details that make a work seem child-friendly; children who
especially enjoy "I Spy," or who liked the other books, should
definitely give it a try. (3 & up)
__ The Handmade Alphabet_ illustrated by Laura Rankin. Dial, 1991;
Puffin, 1996 (0-14-055876-4) $4.99 pb
Concept and execution are perfectly blended in this memorable
look at the American Sign Language manual alphabet, which shows
beautifully drawn hands interacting with appropriate objects
while they form the position of each letter: translucent,
rainbow-edged bubbles float past the hand demonstrating B, a
fragile cup dangles from the thumb of the hand forming C. The
most fascinating image might be the E, being slowly erased by a
pencil... or maybe the dragonfly delicately perching on D... or
the J which swipes a little jam as it moves through the air... or
the skeletal vision of X...
Perhaps it's because the basic idea seems so simple that this end
product is somehow so astonishing. The graceful elegance of the
finely drawn pictures, the imaginative placement of the objects,
and the beautiful natural variations of the hands--black and
white, old and young--all add up to an incredible visual
statement, showing that hand communication, like vocal
communication, is more than just the formation of words. Whether
or not you have any interest in the manual alphabet, this is a
book too special to miss. * (4 & up)
__ Pigs from A to Z_ written and illustrated by Arthur Geisert.
Houghton Mifflin, 1986; 1996 (0-395-77874-3) $7.95 pb
Fine-line drawings against a sepia background form some
intriguing alphabet landscapes in this puzzle-story. As seven
pig siblings build a treehouse--a process which sometimes
involves complicated Rube Goldberg-type machines--they also form
letters of the alphabet. Each page has five example of the
current letter, one each of the preceding and following letters,
and seven pigs to find in the crowded landscape; for desperate
seekers, there's a key at the end. With illustrations that are
far more sophisticated and evocative than most books of this
type, this game is on par with hunting for Ninas in Hirschfeld
drawings. (4 & up)
__ Animalia_ written and illustrated by Graeme Base. 1986; Puffin,
1996 (0-14-055996-5) $6.99 pb
Most people who have anything to do with children will be
familiar with at least the cover of this book; I've seen it for
sale as a poster any number of times. I had no idea though, just
from the attractive cover, how incredible the actual book is.
Each meticulously crafted illustration brings a distinct,
fantastic world to life; each picture is a one of a kind work of
art. The alphabet, as you might guess from the title, is based
on animals: for each letter, there's a description of a scene,
and a gorgeous and crowded picture filled with odd and amusing
images beginning with that letter. Everything in the pictures
relates to the letters, even to vegetation and objects in
people's pockets: the more you look, the more you see.
Naturally, my favorite scene was "Lazy Lions Lounging in the
Local Library," which shows one lion enjoying a biography of
Leonardo da Vinci while another devours (literally) _Lassie Come
Home_. This is the first time this title's been available in
paperback and it's truly a bargain. * (4 & up)
* indicates a book the reviewer feels is outstanding in its genre
--
Wendy E. Betts, Editor, "Notes from the Windowsill."
w...@armory.com, w...@deeptht.armory.com, w...@deepthought.armory.com
"There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though...
there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be."