WILD Alphabet

Wild Alphabet

by Mike Haines and Julia Frolich

Kingfisher, 2010

ISBN #780753464724

Ages 3 and up

A is antelope, B is bison, C is chinchilla…

This alphabet book opens each spread with a pop up animal depicting the letters of the alphabet and two or three facts about the animal. The animals aren't usually the ones commonly recognized for those letters, and the facts are child-friendly and interesting. 

The small trim makes it easy for children to hold. The animals are in color on the left side, with the pop up spreading across the center of the two pages in black and white. The first letter begins immediately and Z ends on the back, with back matter on the back cover. The focus seems to be more on the animal than the letters, although it can be fun to trace each letter within the moving parts.

Sure to capture a young child's fascination with motion, the book is appealing and fun to look through. I played with the motion myself as I read the book and showed it to friends, too. Sturdy pages should stand up to frequent use and the motion is small enough to hold up well.

Activity (young ages)

Create an animal alphabet book of your own. List the letters of the alphabet and animals from the book on blank pages. Look for pictures of other animals and paste them under the correct letter.

You can find animal pictures at this site.

More animal pictures.

Activity 2 (older children)

Classify the animals from the book into groups, using the headings mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and fish. Then look for pictures to add animals to the chart.

You can find animals at this site..

More animal pictures.

National science standard: characteristics of animals

Book provided by publisher