Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z- Alphabet book

[Jessica]

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert

Reviews:

Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature)
Lois Ehlert s much acclaimed picture book has gone through several reincarnations since its original publication. This latest--a lap-sized board book--is perhaps one of its best. Size itself is the factor. It is large enough so that Ehlert s evocative and colorful renderings of veggies and fruit, from avocado and asparagus to persimmon, pomegranate, and Swiss chard--and yes, even xigua and zucchini--can be properly seen and admired while propped on a parent or child s lap. Of course, it might be a tad heavy for a small toddler to drag around, but the solid-board pages will taste as sweet to any teething baby. The alphabet function is still foremost, and the name of each item pictured is printed in both upper and lower case in large, readable type--giving the truly precocious future gourmet the opportunity to learn the correct spelling for such delicacies as rutabaga and radicchio. This is definitely a win-win book. 2006 (orig. 1989), Red Wagon/Harcourt, $10.95. Ages 6 mo. to 3.
(PUBLISHER: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (San Diego:), PUBLISHED: c1989.)

Dr. Beverly Kobrin (Children's Literature)
All too frequently, teachers tell me that colleagues strike alphabet books from their upper-grade library's order list. That's sad, for the best alphabet books are for everyone. For example with Ehlert's book you can share it as 1) a simply beautiful alphabet book, 2) a sampling of edible plants elementary grade youngsters can categorize (i.e. leaf or root, crunchy or slurpy, yellow or green), whose origins can be pinpointed on a map, or whose preparations reflect cultural similarities or differences, 3) a collection of fine watercolor collages, anyone can try, 4) an information book with glossary entries that are models of tightly constructed, information laden, two-to-four sentence paragraphs. 1996 (orig. 1989), Harcourt, $15.00, $6.00, $19.95 and $5.95. Ages All.
(PUBLISHER: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (San Diego:), PUBLISHED: c1989.)

This book is dedicated to using all of the fruits and veggies and categorizing them in order from A to Z. This book is fun to read to younger children who are learning words. There are quite a few fruits and veggies that I had never heard of before until I read this book for the first time. I loved the content and pictures of the fruits and veggies!

I agree particularly with the first reviewer about the size and colorfulness of the book. I have read this book several times to my preschoolers and for them it never gets old. We go over the different kinds of fruits and veggies and they constantly are asking questions. Lois Ehlert