Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag: 31 Objects from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

by Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman’s exuberant illustrations and humorous commentary bring design history to life in this inspired ABC book that celebrates thirty-one objects from the Cooper Hewitt, in time for its long-awaited reopening. "A. Ah-ha! There you Are." begins Maira Kalman’s joyfully illustrated romp through the treasures of Cooper Hewitt’s design collection. With her signature wit and warm humor, Kalman’s ABC book introduces children and adults to the myriad ways design touches our lives. Posing the question "If you were starting a museum, what would you put in your collection?", Kalman encourages the reader to put pen to paper and send in personal letters—an intimate, interactive gesture to top off her unique tour of the world of design. Objects ranging from a thirteenth-century silk thinking cap to 1889 tin slippers with bows, all the way to Gerrit Rietveld’s Zig-Zag chair are brought to colorful life. Kalman’s hand-lettered text is whimsical and universal in turns, drawing lessons as easily from a worn old boot as a masterpiece of midcentury modernism. Irresistibly, we are led to agree, "Everything is design."

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, Nonfiction, Kids, Design

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2014

About the author

Maira Kalman was born in Tel Aviv and moved to New York with her family at the age of four. She has worked as a designer, author, illustrator and artist for more than thirty years without formal training. Her work is a narrative journal of her life and all its absurdities. She has written and illustrated twelve children's books including Ooh-la-la- Max in Love, What Pete Ate, and Swami on Rye. She often illustrates for The New Yorker magazine, and is well known for her collaboration with Rick Meyerowitz on the NewYorkistan cover in 2001. Recent projects include The Elements of Style (illustrated), and a monthly on-line column entitled Principles of Uncertainty for The New York Times.

She lives in New York and walks a lot.

(http://www.saulgallery.com)

Reviews

[Jeimy]

The most creative A to Z book I've ever read. Z is for Moose is the funniest, but this was the most creative.

[Melinda]

A great little read with amazing artwork all by Maira Kalman.

[Relyn]

Imagine being so awesome, so talented, so wonderful that the Cooper Hewitt Museum invites you to tour their entire (even what's in storage) collection and choose your favorite things. Then they'll make an exhibit out of them and you get to make a book for adults and one for children. WOW!

[Debi Cates]

It was ok.

I wanted to adore this author/artist's work. I should have adored it. But I didn't.

A to Z of folk-art-y paintings (based on items in the Smithsonian) with short, off-hand comments made by the author. I think they were meant to convey wonder and whimsy. In the back were very small actual photos of the objects.

Maybe my Littles would like it, maybe not. I'm not keen enough myself to use the time we three have together on this one.

I'll donate this book and And the Pursuit of Happiness to our local Friends of the Library where it might find its way into more appreciative hands.

[Jill]

I am a big fan of the art of Maira Kalman. Her style is unmistakable – she is a cartoon artist, painter, writer, and journalist who is at once whimsical, colorful, and witty, and a delight for both the eye and the intellect. She is especially known for her “visual reporting” as well as her iconic covers for the "New Yorker" magazine. She combines realism with fantasy and commentary all in the same pictures, bringing to mind artists as diverse as Ludwig Bemelmans and Marc Chagall, and yet she is always identifiable as herself.

The book features original gouache paintings of objects selected by Kalman from among pieces in a Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum exhibition on design. The author observes:

“Everything around you is designed. Your sneakers, our toothbrush, your toilet (yes!) and even our pencil.”

She demonstrates this by going through the alphabet, but not in a way you would expect. She doesn’t let the imperatives of the locations of letters in words define her choices; sometimes they appear first, but sometimes they don't. She starts out with A but the iconoclastic Kalman points out the A inside two words:

“...perhAps you should put on your thinking cAp….”

Similarly when she uses E, she shows us a dog and writes:

"E. (Except for YOUR DOG)
This is the cutest dog on EARTH with The Cutest EYEBROWS on EARTH."

For H she declares

H. This is not a Hippo. This is a RHINOCEROS.

Under J she writes:

“...just because you don’t like to comb your hair, that doesn’t mean you should throw out your COMB. That would be JUST NOT RIGHT.”

N is for toilet:

“NOW might be a Good Time to go the bathroom. No worries. We will wait for you. NOT A PROBLEM.”

And thus she proceeds to display items from the Hewitt exhibition.

Evaluation: I love books for kids that encourage them to think outside of the box. This book entertains and educates, all while breaking “the rules.” Kids and adults alike will be delighted.

[Jessica Anne]

Once again, always and forever — a beautifully illustrated book by the one and only Maira Kalman. Obsessed with her style.

This is a lovely premise for a book, featuring 31 painted exhibit pieces from the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York. Storyline is a bit frantic, but perhaps it would work better if read aloud to actual children.

Love the postscript about the two sisters who created this museum solely out of things they loved, and the encouragement for young people to grow up and do the same with their own dreams. (It is not mentioned if the sisters came from generational wealth, as I suspect is the case, and hence had a bit of help....but the sentiment is still nice.)

[Caroline]

In this beautiful Alphabet book, Kalman selects thirty-one objects from the Cooper Hewitt's collection and strings them together into this A to Z of design history, with her characteristic quirk, wit and warmth.

Be aware, this isn't a conventional A for Apple Alphabet book. Only three objects actually begin with their corresponding letters — Pocket, Umbrella, and Zig-Zag (Chair). For example, E is for an English Porcelain Dog: 'the cutest dog on EARTH. (ExcepT for Your DOG) with The Cutest EYEBROWS on EARTH'.

Read my full review here: http://bit.ly/2f5e64g

[Debra]

A very atypical alphabet book. Kalman unleashes the letters to be used in unusual ways. I felt that I would have rather have had the actual photograph of the object than an illustration. Would the child understand that the item being referred to was real? This would be fun to use in the museum as a search and find the object.

[Judy]

I am always looking at children’s books as possible gifts for my two great granddaughters. The youngest one is going on two years old; so thought this might be a possibility for her. While it is an interesting and very creative book, I think it is as much for an adult audience. I will look further for an ABC book for my great granddaughter.

[Sheree]

Maira Kalman's quirky illustrations are great fun, and the concept of doing the alphabet with representations from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is lovely. However, in reality, it doesn't pull the kids in too far.

[Jill Alessandra]

Wonky, slightly peculiar, and richly illustrated. A friend and I laughed through much of it.

[Kate]

Quirky and fun exploration of museum objects.

[CharityJ]

Love everything Kalman does because of her unique style and perspective. So, of course, Kalman's alphabet book is unlike any other. Her work will make you wonder and smile. Joy in a book!

[Lori]

Loved it so much!! Loved the surprise at the end! Loved the art connections! A great addition for alphabet book collectors.

[Annette]

What an unique way to illustrate the alphabet!

[Lisa]

Another Maira Kalman masterpiece

[Janet]

So imaginative! Loved that the alphabet letters were not exclusively at the beginning of the words. Appreciated the catalog of the actual items at the back of the book. Winner!

[Dolly]

This is not a traditional A-to-Z book - many of the objects have nothing to do with the letter on the page, and often, the letter is merely found (and highlighted) somewhere in the text. This only adds to the humor of the book, but would not serve well as an alphabet primer for a younger child.

Our youngest loves art and drawing and we were fascinated by the various designs and the interesting array of objects. The book was fun to read aloud and we totally noticed the missing letter. Our youngest was convinced that it was simply omitted, but I told her to have patience and we were rewarded at the end. I wasn't too surprised, considering the unorthodox nature of the book.

Overall, it was a fun fast read and we enjoyed reading it together.

[Samantha]

Part alphabet book, part best-of tour of a museum. Text is light and does a good job of weaving very different objects together into a winding sort of story.

An index of all the objects featured in the story appears in the back matter and gives information regarding origin, time period etc.

The tone encourages readers to explore and think about the design elements all around us. Overall, fun and worth a look and several repeat viewings. PreK-2+.

[Allie]

Maira Kalman is the best. Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag is kind of an unconventional alphabet book highlighting different items from the Cooper Hewitt museum. I like that she didn't find items that started with every letter, but rather highlighted the letter in every word in her musings on design and objects (letter knowledge baby!). I think it this book would be a good jumping off point to talk with kids about design and curation.

[Siskiyou-Suzy]

This is a very nice looking book, but I really don't like it much. It's far too weird and random to make much sense. There is not near enough of an explanation of what things are on each page. I guarantee if I read this to my kids, they would be bewildered. I like the idea of talking about design with kids, but this book does not do that. It just shows a variety of things and says random things that don't really go together. So.

[Lisa Rathbun]

This book was totally NOT what we were expecting as an ABC book, but it was a lot of fun. My 8-year-old daughter and I laughed and looked at the pictures. I especially liked that there was a list at the back showing a real photo of all the things shown in the book and telling what it was and where it was from and when it was made. Unique and interesting, though I do prefer more traditional ABC books that match a pictured item with each letter.

[Spencer]

This isn't a traditional alphabet book, although it does give plenty of opportunities for the young to practice their letters. Instead, much like the rest of Kalman's body of work, it is a catalogue of beautiful objects and observations that just happen to be alphabetical. It also has a few words of wisdom for those of us who are past the age of alphabet books. My favorite page is Z: "Life is not a straight line. Life is a zig zag."

[Degan Walters]

Charming and funny children's book featuring the illustrations of Maira Kalman as she draws various objects from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Surprisingly, the objects don't correlate to the letters of the alphabet but that makes it all the more interesting. Although it is a children's book, it is a great read for adults too.

[Sarah]

All the items in the abc book come from the Smithsonian Design Museum- a unique concept for a book- educational in a few ways. Read about the items in the back of the book.

I like that the letters are found throughout the words on the page- a good exercise in sounds for a reading class, or ESL class.

[Becky B]

An alphabet book that features art and objects from the collection of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

Definitely a very unique concept for an alphabet book. It not only uses the 26 letters of the English alphabet, but also could spark interest in the collection at a museum. The objects are quite eclectic. There's further information in the back about how the museum got started.

[Kelsey Forkner]

I wanted to like this much more than I did. The concept was great. The execution veered into trying too hard to be artistic. If this had been simplified and given a more coherent narrative, it could have been noteworthy.

[Loretta]

A very clever alphabet book based on objects from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design. Fun to read for adults and, I expect, fun for kindergartners! Wonderful sense of humor, great pictures and a reference guide for the actual museum objects.

[Tri]

Buku tentang: menjadi diri sendiri; menerima diri sendiri; memaafkan diri sendiri; menghormati diri sendiri; menghargai diri sendiri; mengekspresikan diri dengan percaya diri; menyayangi diri sendiri,

[Julie Flake]

A delightful exploration of the museum's collection. A little different since the items don't always correspond to the letter but rather the narrative about them. I love the photos of the objects at the end.