October 2013: Alphabet Books (Master List and General Discussion)

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time!

(view spoiler)[I do have to admit that albeit my inner child has definitely enjoyed the rhyming text of the alphabet section for Mariah and Teri Ecker's 2022 Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time! and adores how text and images in said section generally focus on both healthy eating and also on the same being something fun, tasty and thus equally not that much a chore, my older adult self kind of wishes that for the sections on eggs (the letter e), honey (the letter h) and when butter is being mentioned the co-authors would do the same as happens in the section on milk (the letter m) and also list vegan alternatives (and not to mention that for me, even though I love eating jam, ice cream, cookies and cakes, I do have to question if these sugar heavy treats should really be appearing in a book that is supposed to be promoting healthy eating habits and good basic nutrition).

But be that as it may, my personal questions regarding the abecedarian area of Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time! are actually pretty minor and kind of almost fade into the background for me since the recipe section that follows the A to Z part of the book is pretty amazing and wonderful, is delightfully child friendly in set-up with easy to follow meal ideas that can be made, that can be created by both adults and children, and with (except for vegan alternatives for eggs, cheese and honey) Mariah and Teri Ecker usually providing non animal based alternative ingredients, suggesting low sodium soup stocks and with the focus of Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time! being very much on vegetables and fruits as a main part of any healthy meal (and that yes, I also adore and appreciate the list of one hundred thematic words from the alphabet section of Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time! but do kind of wish that there could be more activities presented and that alongside the wonderful recipes and informative informational tips on healthy eating that for every recipes a photograph of the end product could also be provided, as the absence of this does kind of bother me and in particular so in a cookbook specifically geared towards children and also towards promoting healthy eating and cooking habits, since many of us are visual learners and need and also want both text and images in cookbooks).

And in conclusion, while for myself as an older and critical adult reader Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time! is solidly three stars and could definitely be improved a wee bit, well, since my inner child has not only totally enjoyed and appreciated every single part and every single presented word and thought featured in Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time!, my star rating will be four stars and is also generally warmly recommended (and with my final assessment of and for Queen Bee's Alphabet Cookbook: Teaching Basic English Skills and Healthy Nutrition One Bite at a Time! being that Mariah and Teri Ecker are providing a fun, informative, educational cookbook and celebration/promotion of healthy nutritious eating and encouraging such habits early on, a book to definitely consider for both children and also of course for parents cooking with their children). (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

P is for Passover

(view spoiler)[Well to be honest, because Tanya Lee Stone's 2003 P is for Passover is an alphabet book, I was not jut intrigued but also more than a bit worried regarding whether I would enjoy Lee Stone's featured text and Margeaux Lucas's accompanying pictures (as from my own personal reading experiences, alphabet books can be delightful but they can also sadly be forgettable and sometimes even downright horrible). However and yes and indeed, P is for Passover is definitely and in my humble opinion a perfect, a marvellous example of an explanatory alphabet book for children from about the age of six to nine or so (and with explanatory alphabet book I mean to say that P is for Passover is not a book for children just learning and practicing their letters but is instead a book using the alphabet to show a specific theme, and with P is for Passover, said theme is of course the Jewish holiday of Passover/Pesach).

A nicely simple, rhyming, song like and importantly also more than thematically (and contents wise) adequate introduction to Passover (and to every facet of this important and significant Jewish holiday) is P is for Passover, with Tanya Lee Stone's A to Z format engagingly and even rather exuberantly showing, describing everything from how the Jews, how the Hebrews lead by Moses escaped from Egypt to how Passover is celebrated and the importance of the Seder meal alongside of the specific food symbols of the latter and of remembering and celebrating God through the agency of Moses delivering the Jews out of slavery. P is for Passover is informative without being textually overwhelming for the intended age group, and while Margeaux Lucas' pictures for P is for Passover are a bit too cartoon-like and as such too one dimensional for my personal aesthetic tastes, Lucas' illustrations do work really well with the author's printed words in P is for Passover, very nicely not only mirroring Tanya Lee Stone's letters of the alphabet sections but also often providing visual details regarding Passover that are either not included within the text proper or only alluded to (such as for example the Seder food symbols being both visually shown by Lucas and also labeled and that the hidden piece of matzah, that the Afikonen can actually be located almost anywhere in the house). Four stars for P is for Passover, warmly recommended, and indeed, the only reason for my rating not being five stars is that I do think Tanya Lee Stone should also be including a list of books on Passover for further reading and that a bit of a bibliography would definitely increase the educational (and in particular the research) value of P is for Passover. (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

The Wildlife ABC: A Nature Alphabet Book

(view spoiler)[Fun, informative, with a straightforward but generally much effective rhyming sequence, Jane Thornhill's The Wildlife ABC is a perfect introduction to both wildlife (ecosystems) and the twenty-six letters of the alphabet (perhaps not for the very very young, but the poetic little verses of The Wildlife ABC are still and nevertheless always simple and uncomplicated enough to generally be used with and for children just learning their letters, from about Kindergarten to grade two, I would say). And an added bonus are the detailed nature notes that Jane Thornhill has included at the back The Wildlife ABC, and while I do lament a bit that a list of suggestions for further reading and study, that a select bibliography has not been included, the supplemental notes for each of the twenty-six letter sections (one for each letter of the alphabet of course) are indeed a true treasure trove of additional wildlife themed information, and even with the absence of bibliographical source materials, this very much and appreciatively increases the potential teaching and learning values of The Wildlife ABC.

Now the accompanying illustrations (which also have been rendered by Jane Thornhill who acts as both author and illustrator for The Wildlife ABC) are bright and lively, with an intense and vibrantly joyful colour scheme (one that is sure to enchant children and keep their interest). And while a bit too cartoon-like and two dimensional for me to consider them personal favourites, the featured depictions do always provide a successful mirror of and to the twenty-six letter sections (which in fact do almost exclusively feature actual animals, actual wildlife), presenting a glowing and yes, mostly realistic pictorial display of the author's text, of Jane Thornhill's printed words. Highly recommended! (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Halloween ABC

(view spoiler)[While I have definitely enjoyed reading (visiting) Halloween ABC and Eve Merriam's spooky, generally humorously quirky, but sometimes also perhaps more than a bit potentially violently creepy, occasionally even seemingly promoting murder and mayhem poetry (and have indeed also found Lane Smith's accompanying illustrations the absolute perfect visual mirror to and of the author's lyrical texts, darkly hued, imaginative but also always delightfully fun in a perfectly ghoulish sort of way), I nevertheless have not been totally and utterly wowed with and by Merriam's Halloween themed verses as a collective, as an entire entity in and of itself. For although MOST of the letter sections, while MOST of the presented verses of Halloween ABC have absolutely and certainly been both fun and engagingly uncannily creepy in both content and form, and some of them even rather informationally enlightening, such as for example the fact that Merriam's poem on Masks for the letter M section of Halloween ABC rather spectacularly alludes to and points out carnivalesque inversions, with the higher ups becoming the lower downs and vice versa, or that according to to the author, according to Eve Merriam, elves usually only turn potentially nasty or evil if/when they have been tormented and/or not adequately appreciated by the humans they are generally trying to help and succour, I did and do have some personal issues with the fact that in many of the sections on Halloween types of animals, and in particular bats and vipers (snakes), Merriam certainly and unfortunately portrays them as much much too inherently and potentially nasty, uncanny and yes almost terrible and horrid by nature (and to the point that I for one would be afraid of certain readers being tempted to not only avoid but to actually attack and torture these animal species simply due to suspicion and personal fear).

However, even with my mild personal issues regarding SOME of the presented verses, I am still and indeed rebelliously granting a full and glowing five stars to Halloween ABC, as for one, I have indeed massively enjoyed and appreciated my reading experience (and find the spooky poems for the most part just so totally and utterly right for Halloween) and for two, considering that this book has repeatedly been both challenged and banned in especially the Bible Belt areas of the United States, of course, I am going to be granting five stars for Halloween ABC (and to once again let the ignoramuses who have banned and or censored Halloween ABC know in no uncertain terms that they are with their attitudes and actions not only akin and alike to the Nazis, to the Stalinists, to any dictatorial states that ban and censors books, but that really, with their striving to have Halloween ABC banned because it contains poems depicting violence, demons, witchcraft and the like, well, sorry, but it is THEY who are the evil ones here, it is THEY who are demonic, uncanny and frighteningly dangerously undemocratic). Highly recommended (and while I do think that some of the poems featured in Halloween ABC might perhaps be a bit too creepy for very intensely sensitive children, actually, and I say that as someone who frightens and startles quite easily at times, NONE of the poems were really all that overly freaky or creepy, and in almost all of them, there is also such a sense of fun and games, of laughing at the uncanny that the potential for Eve Merriam's printed verses in any way frightening children or actually inducing nightmares is greatly mitigated and reduced). (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

West Coast Wild: A Nature Alphabet

(view spoiler)[Although with West Coast Wild: A Nature Alphabet, Karen Reczuch's accompanying illustrations do absolutely offer an aesthetically marvellous, evocatively stunning and often even awe inspiring visual celebration of the British Columbia coastline, of its beaches, its majestic rainforests (and the multitude of flora and fauna that tend to call the Pacific West Coast their home), author Deborah Hodge's alphabetised text, while indeed informative, educational and full of interesting details both big and small, is unfortunately and rather sadly also (in my opinion) and from a printed word, from a narrational point of departure rather unpoetic and a bit too overly textbook like in its verbal expressiveness, most certainly and definitely showing educational and interesting themes and content, but also not really presenting said information all that imaginatively and lyrically.

For while I have found the featured blurbs in the specific "letter" sections of West Coast Wild: A Nature Alphabet engaging and of interest with regard to theme and featured detail (and each letter of the alphabet of course and naturally corresponding to one specific piece and point of the Pacific West Coast the Canadian province of British Columbia, from A being for ancient forest, B being for bears to Z being for the intertidal zone), I personally do very much believe that Deborah Hodge really and truly should have rendered her featured text more poetically and not just have presented the seashore and northern temperate rainforest details of West Coast Wild: A Nature Alphabet in such a frustratingly prosaic manner (as a bit of increasing emotion, imagination and penned lyricism would to and for me make West Coast Wild: A Nature Alphabet considerably less pedantic and a bit more like the joyful and delightful visual celebration that Karen Reczuch's pictures are and that they bring to my eyes). (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: L'alfabet di Michif / Owls See Clearly at Night: A Michif Alphabet

(view spoiler)[Julie Flett's Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: L'alfabet di Michif / Owls See Clearly at Night : A Michif Alphabet is not only both gracefully and aesthetically a truly and evocative visual and stunningly grand artistic feast for the eyes, this book also presents what I most humbly do indeed label an absolutely perfect marriage of text and images, an introduction to not only Michif (to the Métis, their language and culture) but is in my opinion also something almost too inherently beautiful to even adequately defy description.

However, as much as I do in fact and indeed completely and utterly visually adore Julie Flett's simple but spectacular earth tone with occasional splashes of red illustrations (of buffaloes, of beavers, of a bear sneaking up to a campfire to grab itself a slice of bannock etc.) for linguistically interested and inclined I, while Julie Flett's art has truly taken my breath away and keeps taking my breath away, it is actually the introduction to the Michif language in the form of, in the guise of a traditional alphabet book (without the letters q and x of course as they do not exist in Michif) that really and truly shines for me and that indeed also demonstrates clearly and succinctly much relevant linguistic information on Michif as a tongue. Now in her excellent introduction, Julie Flett offers a short but succinctly informative portrait of Michif as a language and also of the Métis as a people (in particular that Michif is a creole language, a mixture of French, Cree and some Saulteaux Ojibwe and that it is at present also considered a very much and unfortunately threatened language). And in my humble opinion, while of course the twenty-four Michif words featured in the main body of Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer first and foremost glowingly and informationally introduce Michif words and often also traditional Métis culture (such as buffalo hunting, story telling, dancing and fiddle playing, all of which are prominently featured both linguistically and artistically), the letter sections of Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer to and for me also very clearly point out that in Michif, there is a very strong and obvious tendency for nouns to be of French origin (or rather of the French that was spoken by the Voyageurs, by the French Canadian fur traders of New France), while verbs, adjectives, adverbs and such more often than not appear as being Cree and Ojibwe (with the caveat that the Michif nouns based on French are phonetically spelled and thus obviously do not look very much like the standard written French of today).

Combined with the simply excellent vowel and consonant pronunciation guides and resource section, I can and will only consider a five star ranking for Lii Yiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer and the only reason that I am a bit hesitant to wholeheartedly recommend this book is the sad fact that it currently appears to be out of print and not only extremely rare but also extremely expensive (when I purchased my personal copy a couple of years ago, it cost me about fifteen dollars Canadian, which is not cheap but also not overly expensive, but when I recently checked online, as I wanted to get a copy for a friend, the featured prices were well over five hundred dollars, and as much as I have loved and appreciated Lii Yiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer, it is absolutely not worth that kind of money, but if you are able to find a copy at a reasonable price, this is indeed a book I most highly and strongly do recommend). (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Alphabet City

(view spoiler)[Yes indeed, as someone who (although generally and mostly rather more textual than concretely visual) often does tend to visualise, to locate, multiple different images within given works of art, I massively enjoy Stephen T. Johnson's Alphabet City (and while a select few of the depicted urban alphabet images could be, perhaps, a bit difficult to easily discern, most are actually more than readily identifiable as specific letter shapes). But that being said, I would not necessarily consider Alphabet City as a suitable tool for actually teaching younger children their letters. However and in my opinion, as an alphabet review for older children, Alphabet City should likely work great, providing both a fun and engaging letters of the alphabet review, whilst at the same time also presenting much artistic food for thought (namely that letter images, that different object contours, can often be found in multiple areas and environments, and that especially modern metropolises with their many buildings, industrial constructs and machines are literally teeming with discoverable images, and of course not just letters either).

Finally, as to the illustrations themselves, they are simply brilliant (and well deserving of the Caldecott Honour designation for illustrator/author Stephen J. Johnston). And albeit I realise that Johnson's individual urban letter images for Alphabet City are in fact paintings, the amount of minute and specific depicted detail almost makes one think that the painted images are actually photographs (and while on its own, Stephen J. Johnston’s artwork for Alphabet City would thus likely be almost a bit too intensely photographic for my own personal aesthetic tastes, as the visual accompaniment for an urban abecedarian, it does indeed work really well, it is a true artistic gem). (hide spoiler)]

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

So at present, all of the ABC books I am adding are rated at least three stars. But yes, do let me know if I should also be listing those ABC books I have rated with two stars or one star.

[QNPoohBear]

An ABC of Democracy
A must read for every American and anyone studying for citizenship! This means you political candidates, lawyers, justices, representatives, senators, mayors, governors, presidents, and would-be censors!

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

There are so many books avl. I suggest we only highlight the good ones, Gundula, thank you.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Cheryl wrote: "There are so many books avl. I suggest we only highlight the good ones, Gundula, thank you."

Oh good, the ones I rated with two stars or with one star are not really worth it in my opinion.

[QNPoohBear]

The high schooler liked An ABC of Democracy. She complained about her civics teacher so I wanted to show it to her. She was excited about my plan to donate it to the library book sale. That way kids can learn civics before they get to high school and little kids can learn the alphabet at the same time.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

QNPoohBear wrote: "The high schooler liked An ABC of Democracy. She complained about her civics teacher so I wanted to show it to her. She was excited about my plan to donate it to the library book sa..."

Yay!

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

I do find The Elsa Beskow Alphabet Book a bit textually lacking (as there is only a list of around 85 words and accompanying artwork from Beskow's picture books, but nothing more). But the artwork is delightful and one could of course use the A to Z words for search and find activities with the illustrations and/or have children create their own sentences (but I did textually want a bit more, thus only three stars for The Elsa Beskow Alphabet Book)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

They, She, He Easy as ABC isn't perfect, but it's a lot of fun. I skimmed it on youtube as it's in none of my libraries.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

A Visit from St. Alphabet


A fun take-off of Clement Clark Moore's A Visit from St. Nicholas (The Night Before Christmas) using penmanship, letters, syntax etc., nicely punning, with fun illustrations (at times a bit tedious, but four stars and highly recommended).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Bad Kitty


I really enjoyed Nick Bruel's artwork and his alphabet sections (two sections featuring nouns and two showcasing verbs and adjectives), and I can also appreciate Kitty misbehaving when her family tries to impose an all vegetable diet on her (as felines are obligatory carnivores and not omnivores), albeit Kitty's bad behaviour to show her displeasure is a bit over the top (even if it makes me smile). Now with regard to my rating, reading pleasure for Bad Kitty is solidly three stars (I find the alphabet sections a bit too long for young children, almost potentially overwhelming as there are four A to Z parts and that the acceptable Kitty kibble section should contain only legitimate and suitable for felines food and not so much strange fantasy. However, because book banning morons have repeatedly challenged and censored the Bad Kitty series and that from 2010 to 219 the series was actually number 37 of the top 100 banned books in the USA, I am upping my rating for Bad Kitty to five stars and flipping anyone supportive of book banning the finger (and also, if puritanicals etc. want to ban Bad Kitty because they are afraid that their children might imitate and learn bad behaviour, that is neither the book's nor Nick Bruel's fault and responsibility, it is completely on parents, caregivers and the like.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I never read this, though I have read a couple of others in the series. Thanks for the comment; I've now requested it. And yes, a whole bunch of 'em are at my little local conservative library.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Pride Puppy!


So even though Pride Puppy!'s alphabet book format is rather standard in set-up and as such a pretty traditional abecedarian in many ways, Robin Stevenson's words and Julie McLaughlin's art do delightfully and wonderfully present a rich narrational and illustrative portrait of absolute diversity and total inclusion (and delightfully focused around a curious and energetic dog who just wants to experience everything and thus slips off their leash). Pride Puppy! totally makes me smile, although the fact that author Robin Stevenson has been receiving death threats is of course NOT funny but infuriating.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Take Away the A


Michaël Escoffier's alphabet book (and I now also want the French version) appeals both to my inner child but also to me as a language instructor with its cleaver set up of taking away the letter of the alphabet being featured to make an entirely different word (so that for a beast becomes best, for b bride becomes ride, for c chair becomes hair and so on and so on until the letter z). I adore both text (the concept) and also Kris di Giacomo's accompanying artwork which is expressive, funny and reminds me nostalgically of Maurice Sendak. And the only reason why my rating is four and not five stars is that I do wish the at the back of Take Away the A the A Escoffier would list more examples for each letter (and indeed in a classroom setting, like for example for ESL students, I would either provide additional examples or have students work in groups to come up with additional examples).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

L is for Love: A first book of L words to give to someone you love, from the award-winning creators of Baby goes to Market, ages 3, 4, 5, 6 and M Is for MangoAtinuke and Angela Brooksbank warmed my heart with their previous collaborations and I'm so excited for these new books that are full of the same cozy vibrancy, brimming with love and a wonderful glimpse into modern-day Africa, with nods both to tradition and nature as well as showing how modern Africa is a blend of past and present (L is for Love: A first book of L words to give to someone you love, from the award-winning creators of Baby goes to Market, ages 3, 4, 5, 6 shows a rural family traveling to the market in the big city of Lagos). Such delightful alphabet books, too. It is so clever and fun how each story centers on just one letter of the alphabet. A treat!