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ABC of Fantastic Princes
An alphabet of pioneering princes—from A to Z—by the acclaimed Austrian designer Willy Puchner Meet the princes from A to Z. Some are ambitious, some bold, some daring and dashing . . . but each of the twenty-six frogs are striking in character and charm and come bearing extraordinary gifts and talents. Puchner’s opulent and incomparable illustrations make this abecedary a marvel for all ages.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
64 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 12, 2014
Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley
The artwork is interesting and brilliantly colored. But the best part is the rhyme for each prince that makes excellent use of the given letter. 90 percent or more of the words are going to start with the letter, and there is reference made to all types of things, including Elvis. Rather clever.
The artwork is interesting and brilliantly colored. But the best part is the rhyme for each prince that makes excellent use of the given letter. 90 percent or more of the words are going to start with the letter, and there is reference made to all types of things, including Elvis. Rather clever.
September 14, 2017
An ABC for upper elementary children, and even then they will need to have a dictionary handy. (I had to look up a couple of words myself). Very wordy for an alphabet picture book.
October 10, 2014
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Meet the princes from A to Z. Some are ambitious, some bold, some daring and dashing . . . but each of the twenty-six frogs are striking in character and charm and come bearing extraordinary gifts and talents. Puchner s opulent and incomparable illustrations make this abecedary a marvel for all ages.
Wow, this was one tough - but fun - read. 26 frog princes come together for an evening of showboating and bragging - all in the name of snagging a princess. The princes are a mix of bold, brash and boastful - and explain to the eligible princesses all their best qualities.
Alliterations are the name of the game with this book. Each prince is a letter of the alphabet and the whole description uses the same letter. While it is a bit of a tongue-twister at times, there is enough levity to keep younger readers interested. However, the repetitive nature of this story can make it somewhat hard to read for any extended period of time. If parents and teachers read just a few at a time, that could make it easier for youngsters to stay focused on the story.
The illustrations, on the other hand, are gorgeous and well presented. Each frog prince is definitely different from the next - either through attire or facial expressions. The rich colours add some real character to the book - which, in different hands, could have been quite dull.
Paul
ARH
Meet the princes from A to Z. Some are ambitious, some bold, some daring and dashing . . . but each of the twenty-six frogs are striking in character and charm and come bearing extraordinary gifts and talents. Puchner s opulent and incomparable illustrations make this abecedary a marvel for all ages.
Wow, this was one tough - but fun - read. 26 frog princes come together for an evening of showboating and bragging - all in the name of snagging a princess. The princes are a mix of bold, brash and boastful - and explain to the eligible princesses all their best qualities.
Alliterations are the name of the game with this book. Each prince is a letter of the alphabet and the whole description uses the same letter. While it is a bit of a tongue-twister at times, there is enough levity to keep younger readers interested. However, the repetitive nature of this story can make it somewhat hard to read for any extended period of time. If parents and teachers read just a few at a time, that could make it easier for youngsters to stay focused on the story.
The illustrations, on the other hand, are gorgeous and well presented. Each frog prince is definitely different from the next - either through attire or facial expressions. The rich colours add some real character to the book - which, in different hands, could have been quite dull.
Paul
ARH
November 1, 2014
Given To Me For An Honest Review
ABC of Fantastic Princes by Willy Puchner is a must read if you have small children or if you teach young children. This is about teaching the alphabet A -Z. Frog princes are used for it. Some of the frogs are ambitious, bold, some are daring and dashing. Each of the 26 frogs have something unique to share with children. This is a great book to add to your child's bookshelf. They will want to read it again and again. I gave this book 5 stars but wish I could give it more. I highly recommend it to everyone. I look forward to more from Willy Puchner.
ABC of Fantastic Princes by Willy Puchner is a must read if you have small children or if you teach young children. This is about teaching the alphabet A -Z. Frog princes are used for it. Some of the frogs are ambitious, bold, some are daring and dashing. Each of the 26 frogs have something unique to share with children. This is a great book to add to your child's bookshelf. They will want to read it again and again. I gave this book 5 stars but wish I could give it more. I highly recommend it to everyone. I look forward to more from Willy Puchner.
October 8, 2023
The bios for the princes become incredibly repetitive and dense as the author packs in as much alliteration and as many strange words as possible. The concept is creative, but this doesn't work for vocabulary-building, since there's almost never any context or framework for interpreting what unfamiliar words mean. I found this mildly amusing as an adult with a vast vocabulary, but I got tired of this quickly, and it doesn't work as a children's picture book.
October 9, 2014
A fun, witty, and hilarious tale about 26 bachelor princes who come to find true love. As each alphabet letter is revealed, a charming (or not) Frog prince appears to tell you about himself. Alliteration is the name of the game in this book, as almost everything he tells you will begin with his alphabet letter. Some of the words are unbelievably large for a children's book (I must admit even I didn't know all of the words!) and it gets repetitive at points (do you really need to play five different instruments that begin with the same letter?).
I wish I had ABC of Fantastic Princesses to see which princesses end up where, as this could potentially make for hours of fun (I have no life).
This is more of a fun book than an educational one (and unlike some people, I have nothing against pure entertainment!), but you could take the opportunity to discuss appreciating diversity and personality. You could also learn more about your children by seeing which prince they pick (I couldn't decide between L, V, & W) or if they're already talking about dating (go ahead and sigh, "kids these days"), you can teach them about relationship and friendship values. And if all else fails, the importance of having a good vocabulary!
I wish I had ABC of Fantastic Princesses to see which princesses end up where, as this could potentially make for hours of fun (I have no life).
This is more of a fun book than an educational one (and unlike some people, I have nothing against pure entertainment!), but you could take the opportunity to discuss appreciating diversity and personality. You could also learn more about your children by seeing which prince they pick (I couldn't decide between L, V, & W) or if they're already talking about dating (go ahead and sigh, "kids these days"), you can teach them about relationship and friendship values. And if all else fails, the importance of having a good vocabulary!
October 8, 2014
This is one of those pictures books like "Go the FUck to Bed" that must be meant for adults. The entire book is one big tongue twister. Any kid reading this would need to read it with a dictionary. Plus who would ever want to marry one of these princes. Not Me.
That being said, I did enjoy the title. We all got a great laugh trying to read it out loud in the back room of the library. But as an every day book to give to a child, probably not. Why not, because this is the epitome of wordy. That is the point of the title. As each prince is introduced such as prince P, most everything about him is a p word which is great. But sometimes the words seem made up or misspelled. Plus you would spend sooooooooo much time explaining what all the words mean, and I doubt many parents would know the meaning of 1/2 of them.
That being said, I did enjoy the title. We all got a great laugh trying to read it out loud in the back room of the library. But as an every day book to give to a child, probably not. Why not, because this is the epitome of wordy. That is the point of the title. As each prince is introduced such as prince P, most everything about him is a p word which is great. But sometimes the words seem made up or misspelled. Plus you would spend sooooooooo much time explaining what all the words mean, and I doubt many parents would know the meaning of 1/2 of them.
October 11, 2014
While this text-heavy picture book might be good for vocabulary building, I did not really see the point of it. 26 bachelor frog princes gather together in the hopes of meeting and marrying a group of princesses. Each prince has a letter of the alphabet and presents a biography about himself, centered around that letter of the alphabet. For example, Prince Demetrius is "a doctor, dancer, and deep-thinking dilettante." Unfortunately, these biographies become quite repetitive and don't really tell a story. The aim of each bio mainly seems to be to cram as much multi-syllabic alliteration onto the page as possible. While the premise is cute, the author could have done a lot more with the concept. I would have rather had the author keep the alliteration but make more of a story out of the 26 princes, rather than just have each page be a biography.
Free digital ARC from NetGalley.
Free digital ARC from NetGalley.
October 22, 2014
The illustrations throughout this book are beautiful.Prince Willoughby has organised twenty five other princes to attend a fabulous ball to help them all find a princess to love them.Each prince then describes himself to the princesses in the hope to win her love. Each of the twenty six princes has a different initial letter for their name and this letter is used as the initial letter for the description of that prince. So, as well as being a story book, with wonderful words and alliteration galore this book will be great for older primary pupils who wish to explore the cornucopia of adjectives available and how they might be used. I suspect this book will be used more by teachers for the vocabulary than by children reading it purely for enjoyment unless they are really into developing their vocabulary.
January 25, 2015
ABC of fantastic princes is interesting for the drawings, the words and the aura of magical things intertwined with witty humor and pratical needs.
The good parts: it has funny pictures, interesting and non-conventional art, humor, alliteration, and it can be surely useful for learning new words.
The not-so-good parts: there are too many advanced and difficult words, some descriptions are not so amusing for children, and it's a little repetitive.
All considered, four stars for the work!
*ARC provided by the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
The good parts: it has funny pictures, interesting and non-conventional art, humor, alliteration, and it can be surely useful for learning new words.
The not-so-good parts: there are too many advanced and difficult words, some descriptions are not so amusing for children, and it's a little repetitive.
All considered, four stars for the work!
*ARC provided by the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
September 23, 2015
The artwork in this book - and the poetic story of each prince - makes this book one of my favorite on my Kindle. It is so much fun to read the story while looking at the story and seeing how they go together. Each prince is very different - and they are eloquently described, with lots of bigger words that are fun to learn. Even the younger children that I have read this book to get excited about the new words and try to use them in their everyday conversations. Definitely a fun book to read - even if you aren't sharing it with children haha.
November 16, 2014
Fanciful Froggy Fun With Alliteration
This book is beautifully illustrated and makes very good use of alliteration. I thought it was fun and funny and would be great for story time. I can't imagine having a child read this by themselves though as it is full of incredibly advanced words and a mite bit too silly for mist children at the reading level to be able to read it themselves.
***This book is suitable to be read to grade school aged children.
This book is beautifully illustrated and makes very good use of alliteration. I thought it was fun and funny and would be great for story time. I can't imagine having a child read this by themselves though as it is full of incredibly advanced words and a mite bit too silly for mist children at the reading level to be able to read it themselves.
***This book is suitable to be read to grade school aged children.
November 28, 2014
This was a weird book. It opens under the premise of princesses getting to know possible princes they can get married to after the ball, kind of like a dating site for frogs. And each letter of the alphabet sings the praises of a particular prince. Lots of big vocabulary words on the page make it a picture book for older students. Good things: The pictures are pretty cool and the alliteration is neat.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!
July 1, 2016
I love that this book focuses on Princes rather than Princesses! Amazing Alliteration. Wonderful word choice/synonym usage. I strongly dislike the illustrations. And the book is quite lengthy. But letter 'N' I was bored.
August 11, 2016
Note: I received a digital galley through NetGalley.
April 4, 2015
The text was a lot of fun, but the illustrations were not great.
October 28, 2014
Tbh couldn't even finish. But its okay, I like the idea.
April 16, 2015
So bizarre but quite awesome too!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews