Children's Books discussion

Thanks for the votes! Looks like we'll have a very interesting selection of alphabet books:

Animalia

The Z Was Zapped

The Graphic Alphabet

The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet

Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America

Sixth/Alternate:
The Bird Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

Great! I have or have-put-on-hold all the books from that list.

I've read a few already and was able to put a few on hold. I'm not able to get "Z Was Zapped" or "Many Nations", unfortunately. I'll look forward to reviews to fill me in on what I'm missing.

I have Animalia and The Z Was Zapped already on my shelf. The others are new to me and that makes me very excited! I know there were many books to pick from, and you did a great job!

Great list - I cannot get Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America or The Bird Alphabet Book, but I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

We picked up Jerry Pallotta's The Freshwater Alphabet Book, so we will still get to read one of his alphabet books. I love the illustrations.

Jerry Pallotta is very prolific when it comes to the alphabet books. I have many of them which I'll probably substitute for The Bird Alphabet. I just ordered a couple of the others on Amazon. Got one for just a penny!

Great! It will be fun to compare notes on the various Palotta books. I was tempted by the ones on boats, planes and trains that my library has but chose birds to stay with the nature side since a nature book (freshwater) was the other nominated. Eager to hear about them

My library did not have the Jerry Pallotta alphabet book about birds, but it has others, so I decided to request The Icky Bug Alphabet Book (I like the title).

Celeste Davison Mannis' The Queen's Progress is truly an amazing, historically detailed, absolutely gorgeously illustrated alphabet book for older children (and anyone, adults included, desiring to know information about Queen Elizabeth I of England and her annual summer progresses through the English countryside). The engaging, poetical text actually works, never sounding or feeling forced or artificial, and the historical details accompanying each of the "letters" are a real font of historical and social information, to read, savour, discuss and analyse. About Bagram Ibatoulline's gorgeous illustrations, what can I say except that their richness, their wondrous colour and detail simply blew me away (and continues to do so), enchanting, wowing me. Furthermore, The Queen's Progress is also a bit of a historical thriller (there is a traitorous plot against the Queen). Can you (can your child) discover the traitors hiding amongst the masses?

I almost rated The Queen's Progress with five stars (and I actually feel more than a little guilty not having done so, if half stars were possible, I would have given the gook 4.5 stars, as it is, I have rated it with four well deserved stars), but there is one addition that I really think the author should have included with this book, and that is a glossary of Mediaeval and/or Elizabethan terms, especially of the articles of clothing (the diverse costumes) Elizabeth I and her entourage are wearing in the illustrations. Many of the articles of clothing depicted have rather specific names, but unless one is familiar with these terms, one is likely not to know or even be aware of the latter. In my opinion, a glossary would make discussing the illustrations, the historical details and information both easier and more rewarding (and more of a teaching/learning experience); it would have made The Queen's Progress a truly perfect historical alphabet book for me. Still, very, very highly recommended (I am seriously considering purchasing a copy for myself).

I read Animalia a few years ago and enjoyed it: A splendid ABC book! What I love is that the phrases for each letter are very involved, lots of great words here, no "dumbing-down" for kiddies. Also, while I at first thought there was just a random collection of "misc. images" in the pictures (the animals are the main focus) I soon realized that Base was adding lots of OTHER images with the given letter. For example: Unicorns for "U" is the main focus, but then if you look carefully you can also see umbrellas and Union Jacks in the picture. Neat! Kids will love that. I didn't give the book five stars because, alas, I'm not really a fan of his illustration style--this is just personal taste and I think this is a great alphabet book!

Kathryn wrote: "I read Animalia a few years ago and enjoyed it: A splendid ABC book! What I love is that the phrases for each letter are very involved, lots of great words here, no "dumbing-down" for kiddies. Als..."

I'm waiting for my copy to come in (there is one copy of the book in our local library system and it is currently signed out). But if the style is similar to his The Water Hole, I will likely enjoy the book, but not love it (because it will likely seem a bit too busy and visually distracting for me).

I read both The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet and The Z Was Zapped several years ago. I'd have to look at them again for a detailed review, but I do remember liking them both a lot. They both have sophisticated pictures with a lot of visual interest and beauty, making these fun books to share with a child, or for somewhat older children than the stereotype for ABC books. I'd have to give a preference for "The Queen's Progress," partly because I have always had an interest in that historical period, but also because I appreciated the variety of information it contained.

I love that, Chandra! What a wonderful gift that book has given you both.

Chandra wrote: "The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet is a truly marvelous book! I am SO glad I was finally able to get ahold of it. This is actually the book that prompted me to get a Texshare card (mea..."

And it's a book not just for young children either (and one that can be enjoyed by both younger children and older children, as well as adults).

What can one add to what Gundula has already written about "The Queen's Progress"? I did give it 5 stars in spite of its lack of a glossary of terms. A lovely, lovely book for children who already have some education under their belts, who already are familiar with history, foreign countries, etc. Pre-school children might like the illustrations, but the text would be way over their heads. A lovely book for adults as well, especially those who are interested in Queen Elizabeth.

Beverly wrote: "What can one add to what Gundula has already written about "The Queen's Progress"? I did give it 5 stars in spite of its lack of a glossary of terms. A lovely, lovely book for children who already ..."

I felt a bit guilty about giving it only four stars, but this was a book that to me really needs a glossary (but I am a fan of glossaries and supplemental materials anyway).

Animalia by Graeme Base

5 stars !!

I love this book! My boys (8 & 12) love this book! In fact we all loved it so much, that I had to order one for our personal home.

Animalia can be enjoyed in so many different ways. The first time we looked through it all we did was look at the gorgeous artwork. We like to pick our favorite page from books like these where every page is eye candy. I think the next time we looked at it, we actually read the text and tried to find all of the matching images for the letters. I say tried because I think I could look at this book many many times and still not find all of the items. The inclusion of obscure items/words like dirigible and degu (or maybe it was a dormouse) for example, provide a challenge for older children, and there are still enough common items for smaller children to identify.

I KNOW my 8 year olds favorite use of these books is none of the above. As an added bonus, there is a little cartoon boy on every page. It is sort of like Where's Waldo? to find his hiding spot for every letter. We would race and see who could find him first. :D

I could also see a creative writing or grammar class using these books. *Pick 5-10 items from each page and write a story. Or *Pick 5-10 items and list all of the synonyms you can think of. This book is a treasure and I am glad I finally stumbled upon it.

Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America by Joseph Bruchac

4 stars

The illustrations in this book are superb! Loved the colors and the warmth on every page. The text was sparse but effective. I almost graded it down a star for lack of text until I realized that every page sparked a discussion about what was going on in the pictures. Discussions about buffaloes, canoes, the design of the homes... almost every page could be used as a topic starter. It was wonderful that Bruchac included groups that are not as well known as others.

My biggest gripe is that there was no pronunciation key for this book. I would have really liked to have a handy guide to help me with some of the more difficult names.

Overall, Great book!

So much fun hearing about how you and your boys experienced "Animalia", Londa! Even though it wasn't a personal favorite for me, you and Chandra are making me eager to share it with my son in a few years! :-)

Londa wrote: "
Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America by Joseph Bruchac

4 stars

The illustrations in this book are superb! Loved the colors an..."

I agree, a pronunciation key would have been an added bonus (and some supplemental material and suggestions for further reading would also have added teaching/learning instances, especially since, as you have already mentioned, the illustrations are so lush and detailed).

Frankly, for me, it is the illustrations which make this book. The text is adequate and informative enough, but I think much more could have been made of it (perhaps a bit of a rhyme, and definitely more detail); it kind of leaves me asking for more (and will probably also leave children asking for more, especially slightly older kids).

~Kathryn, I just found the book this year. I wish I had known about it years ago! Some of the pages (kidnapping kookaburra) have been the subject of controversial reviews, but I would loved to have shared this with them earlier.

~Gundula, Yes a glossary or an extra info section would have been very useful. At first, I thought of those info text boxes, but I wouldn't want anything to get in the way of those beautiful pictures. When we saw the 'stick game' they were playing, we talked about lacrosse being the first 'American' sport. Details like that could have added to the edu value of the book.

On another note, so glad that this book was picked because now I have been introduced to Joseph Bruchac. He is quite a prolific author. Just reserved one more of his books A Boy Called Slow. This group is great!

Londa wrote: "~Kathryn, I just found the book this year. I wish I had known about it years ago! Some of the pages (kidnapping kookaburra) have been the subject of controversial reviews, but I would loved to have..."

You should check out some of the older picture book threads (topics). I know that Bruchac is prominently featured in the thread about folklore, as well as in the thread about Native Americans. And he has written some wonderful longer books for older children and young adults as well.

I think a glossary, a more detailed author's note, as well as a bit of a bibliography with suggestions for further reading would have been great (and could easily have been added as back material, to be used by parents, teachers and even slightly older children who are independent readers as required).

Gundula wrote: "You should check out some of the older picture book threads (topics). I know that Bruchac is prominently featured in the thread about folklore, as well as in the thread about Native Americans. And he has written some wonderful longer books for older children and young adults as well...."

I will. Thanks!

Most of these aren't avl in my library system, but I'll come back with reactions when I get the ones that should come in.

The Graphic Alphabet and The Z Was Zapped are similar in concept but different in execution. In both books, the letters cleverly capture the alphabetic action that is taking place. In fact, both "A's" depict "avalanche." Van Allsburg's illustrations are in his signature black and white pencil style, and he ties everything together by referring to his alphabet as a play in 26 acts. Pelletier's alphabet is in color, and he makes no attempt to tie them together in a unifying theme. Neither book is suitable for a child just learning his/her ABCs, but are intended for more sophisticated readers, who can make the connection between the letter and the action it is depicting. In fact, one can use "The Z Was Zapped" as a guessing game, having children guess what is happening to each letter, as the answer is given on the reverse side of the page.
(Can anyone clue me in on how to create a link to the books, as above? The step-by-step for dummies version, please.)

I am in agreement with other comments about "Animalia" by Graeme Base. The illustrations are gorgeous and whimsical. There is enough in each spread to pore over for hours, as much as in any "Where's Waldo" or "I Spy" book.

Regarding "Many Nations" by Joseph Bruchac, this would be a good introduction to various Native tribes for preschool children and early elementary students. I agree with other comments above: if the author had included more extensive notes, the book might have also been instructive for students in the upper grades. The artwork was very impressive. Until the author pointed out that the Klallam men have mustaches, it didn't hit me that all the other male Natives in the tribes depicted in this book have bare faces. I don't know if that means that all those men shave their faces, or if they simply don't grow much facial hair. Maybe someone else knows.

(To add book title, cover image, or author to a comment, look just above the comment box you're typing in. See the little orange-ish text that says 'add book/author?' Click on it. Type in the book title or author's name, whichever you wish. [since you're a novice, I recommend ignoring the auto-complete, if it shows up, for now) Hit 'search.' Find the correct book or author from the list that will appear. Hit 'add.'

And if you want the cover image to show up, scroll to the bottom of that pop-up window to hit the radio button choice for the cover image. Note that if you want a different cover to show up, try hitting the 'other editions' under the Add button.

Let me know if you need more help, but I promise that it becomes easy after just a few times.)

Wow! Thanks so much, Cheryl!

Beverly wrote: "Regarding "Many Nations" by Joseph Bruchac, this would be a good introduction to various Native tribes for preschool children and early elementary students. I agree with other comments above: if th..."

More extensive notes would also have been good for adults reading the book to children, as even younger kids might have questions and queries (about the illustrations especially).

I'm a little slow and it's not even close to the holidays yet! I loved The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet and would have never found it had it not been for our group! Yeah! I thought it was going to be more calligraphic type letters but I was pleasantly surprised with the lovely pictures, text, and poems. It gave short and sweet historical notes that even young children might learn from. This was a wonderful selection.

Now for Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America. I used to teach a Native American unit which was pretty extensive for my third graders. Even they would state that this book was lacking on the information that could have been included and even the pictures weren't that well done. I was really disappointed in the book. As the author stated in the back, he was trying to show the diversity of the hundreds of tribes that were found in the U.S. but he missed the clarity that was needed for young and older children. This was an older book (published in 1997) which might account for the lack of information? If it was redone today I'm sure it could be improved.

The Graphic Alphabet was just okay for me. Even though it was a Caldecott Honor book it missed something that I can't quite put my finger on yet. It's too complicated for young children to see the connections on some of the pictures. I even had trouble with G is for Gears. I'm still trying to see the G! Some of the letters were very clever and funny, some strange (r is for rip). It won't be my favorite alphabet book on my shelf.

I've had Animalia since it first was published and I still love it. I have all of his other books too. Base's books will always be my favorites. I have The Z Was Zapped along with all of Van Allsburg's books. He's another author who I'll always find space on my shelf!

I like how Beverly compared the following books so I am being a copycat!


The Graphic Alphabet by David Pelletier

3 stars

The kid really liked this book. Loved the bright colors against the black background. Loved the images made into letters. He gives it a 4. I was not as impressed. Like many reviewers have said, I found it just 'ok'. I would give it a 2. Averaged our two opinions for a solid 3.


The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

3 stars

I really enjoyed the built in guessing game, and as always, like Allsburg's illustrations. I thought this would be a hit with the kid. I was wrong on this one! He did not like the B&W illustrations at all. (I forgot he LOVES color) He was also irritated when some of the letters had alternate actions that started with the same letter (C could have been Curled but was Cut/ D could have been Dunked but was Drowned etc.) So our ratings were once again opposite! I would have given it a solid 4. Kid gave it a 2! Family avg >> 3

I think others have had this same thing happen with this duo. Parents seem to like Allsburg, while the kids like the graphic one.

I'm always so glad to hear children's opinions; thanks for sharing!

I'm still waiting on ILL for my books. My library has been kinda slow the last few months...

I 'liked' Many Nations, but did not appreciate the distance created between modern non-Indian children and the characters in the book. First Americans are not just in the past, not just in the wilderness, and not Noble Savages. They are people. They are neighbors, classmates, even in towns and cities.

Likewise, The Z was Zapped is not a play - it's 26 puzzles. And the answers were fairly arbitrary - I thought J was Jiggly - but I I guess Jittery fits the Noir theme better. Iow, I totally empathize with Londa's son.

Otherwise, I've only been able to get The Icky Bug Counting Book. If the alphabet companion is anything like the counting one, which goes from *zero* to 26, I know I'm missing a treat.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Likewise, The Z was Zapped is not a play - it's 26 puzzles. And the answers were fairly arbitrary - I thought J was Jiggly - but I I guess Jittery fits the Noir theme better. Iow, I totally empathize with Londa's son...."

He would appreciate that! :) For J, he guessed Jumpy, which also fit.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I 'liked' Many Nations, but did not appreciate the distance created between modern non-Indian children and the characters in the book. First Americans are not just in the past, not just in the wilderness, and not Noble Savages. They are people. They are neighbors, classmates, even in towns and cities.

Good point!

The Bird Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta illustrated by Edgar Stewart

4 out 5 stars

We really enjoyed this one. Pallota includes lots of educational information in his alpha books. We also enjoyed his sense of humor. For instance, he tells the Bats to get out of the Book because Bats are NOT birds!
The illustrations were also very vivid and well done. Pallotta's books are illustrated by various people, so they aren't the same (quality/type) from book to book. We both had an issue with him using the descriptor for the bird name instead of the common bird name as the Alphabet tie-in. For example Bald Eagle is listed as the E bird but Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the Y bird, and W is White-faced Scops Owl. Just a little irritation, but overall a very good book.

-----------------------------------------------------
We also reviewed two other Pallotta books for fun


The Beetle Alphabet Bookby Jerry Pallotta illustrated by David Biedrzycki

4 out of 5

Jammed full of amazing facts about beetles and also very humorous. I liked this one more than the bird book (which my son liked better) The pictures are also well done, but with a bit more fun and a little less realism than the bird book. There were also the imposters included for fun and educational purposes (spiders, bees, and roaches!)


The Skull Alphabet Bookby Jerry Pallotta illustrated by Ralph Masiello

5 OUT OF 5 STARS

This was by far our favorite of the Pallotta books! We seem to enjoy books that have hidden things in them or puzzles, so this was right up our alley. Every page has a realistic illustration of a skull. You are then given clues as to what animal it belongs to (in addition to the first letter of course)! His humor is again present and there is a bounty of educational facts. The 8 year old was able to figure most of them out on his own. For an added bonus, there is a picture of a president hidden on almost every page. We had a lot of fun looking for those too. At the end of the book, he gives credit to the skullsunlimited company. We went to their website (not for the squeamish) and learned way too much about how skulls are prepared for museums. This book is worth it's weight in gold, and I will probably have to purchase it because it has been looked at every day since I brought it home from the library! I'm sure some kids might be freaked out by skulls but mine surely wasn't.

I am not going to bother reviewing any of the books this month (because of the Amazon/GR fiasco and the fact that I will likely also be leaving GR permanently in the near future because I just cannot accept the new level of censorship on the site).

But I will briefly state what I liked and did not like about the alphabet books I read.

You already know that I totally loved The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet (which does have a review but a review written a while ago and recently edited a bit) and that enjoyed Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America but think that a glossary and a more informative and imaginative text would have turned this adequately informative book into a treasure (I still liked it, but more could have been done with it).

I did not really enjoy The Z Was Zapped all that much. I found the fact that the letters themselves were not on the same page as the text quite distracting (and I probably also would have found that fact distracting as a child), although I can certainly understand that some readers (and some children) would or could find this fun and interesting. And while the text was fun and imaginative, I did not find the black and white illustrations at all to my taste (I found them mundane and boring, or rather I found the lack of colour mundane and boring).

Animalia I did enjoy quite a bit, although I did and do find illustrations a bit too busy and too in-one's-face for my liking, and the sheer amount of hidden objects a bit daunting (personally, I would have liked to have had a list of hidden objects at the back of the book). I think Animalia has a lot of kid appeal (but for someone with less than stellar eyesight, the hidden objects could be a bit overwhelming). On the other hand, aside from teaching and practicing the alphabet, alliteration, rhyming etc., the hidden objects could be a very useful tool for practicing pattern recognition, finding hidden objects etc. for children (as well as adults) who have focusing and visual tracking problems (another reason why a list of the hidden objects would have been a welcome and quite useful addition to the book).

The The Icky Bug Alphabet Book was fun, detailed and informative, but I have to say that I find the title of the book rather misleading (because in my opinion, not many of the insects featured by Jerry Pallotta are what I would consider truly "icky").

I can't really add to the great comments about "The Queen's Progress" but I agree it was wonderful.

I enjoyed Palotta's Bird book, though I agree with Londa a few of the choices were kind of odd matches with the letters, a bit inconsistent. But I appreciated that the information was bite-sized enough for young readers and perhaps just enough to encourage older readers to read more about the birds of special interest to them. The illustrations were very appealing. I might have to check out more of his work.

I wasn't able to get "Z was Zapped" so I can't compare it to "Graphic Alphabet" but I felt that "Graphic" was just okay. I like the idea and appreciate the effort, but like Tricia said, it is not really for those just learning the alphabet. It might be more frustrating than fun.

Here are my reviews. I have not yet read The Queen's Progress and I wasn't able to get Many Nations.

The Z Was ZappedI've always liked Van Allsburg. My 5 year old (and I) had a lot of fun guessing what each picture was depicting. And she enjoyed it through multiple rereadings as well. The book is set up so that the picture is on one page and the words (one line for each letter) were on the following page. I like the illustrations and found that many of the events occurring to each letter were quite creative.

The Bird Alphabet Book

A fun ABC book about birds. My 5 year old and I were predicting ahead of time some of the birds we thought would be in it. She was sure hummingbirds and eagles. I said probably penguin. She was so thrilled to be right, especially about hummingbirds which she loves. I had never heard of an umbrellabird and found that pretty interesting...we laughed at how it looks like it has an umbrella on its head and a big fluffy scarf around its neck. She was very surprised to read about the crocodile bird and worried that the croc would eat it. She giggled and giggled at the blue footed booby and we both giggled at the bat ...that isn't a bird. Well written and entertaining.

Animalia

This book feels to me like a book that you could/should spend hours with...there is just so much detail and so many layers. Even though I have read it with my children 3 or 4 times, I still know there is more to see and find. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the alliterative lines are wonderful to read aloud. I need to find/make more time to explore this book more.

The Graphic Alphabet

I found a few of the letters to be quite clever...such as the I Iceberg and G Gear but overall this book is not really my style. My 5 year old liked it quite a bit.

My 5 year old had so much fun with these books that we checked out a couple of other ABC books (one of which was a somewhat factual book about monsters...I was expecting a lighthearted Halloween book and ended up finding that it was way too scary for my 5 year old...can't recall the title, it went straight back to the library. She loved AlphaOops: H Is for Halloween. We are reading a couple of others as well.

Jenny, that's so cute about your little one guessing hummingbirds ;-) I, too, was impressed with the variety of birds highlighted but was also glad to see some familiar favorites, too.

I just realized that I never commented on the books we read - we were able to read four of the selections, plus a different alphabet book by Jerry Pallotta.

Of them, our favorites were The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet and Animalia. We were pleasantly surprised that so many of the alphabet books we read were appropriate for older children. I expected many of the selections to be too babyish.

I've wondered about that, Dolly.

Question for all: Why are alphabet books that appeal to older children created?

Is it because it's a fun way to organize information? Is it because the book could be shared by a family of different ages, or by a child over time as she grows? Is it to feed the older child's, or the adult's, sense of nostalgia for days of being a little child just learning the ABCs? Something else? All of the above?

The Z Was Zapped
We finally got this one in at our library and my 4 year old loved it. Her favorite part was guessing what happened to each letter. She usually got it right, even if she used a synonym rather than the word that began with each letter. It was a fun read and helped her learn some new words, too!

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I've wondered about that, Dolly.

Question for all: Why are alphabet books that appeal to older children created?

Is it because it's a fun way to organize information? Is it because the book..."

I think, in some cases (maybe not all cases), it is an opportunity for the artist/illustrator to showcase their talents.

heh - I thought of that, but it felt to me like a cynical thought, and too incomplete... but I bet you're right!

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "heh - I thought of that, but it felt to me like a cynical thought, and too incomplete... but I bet you're right!"

LOL! Good points.

I've been pondering your question, Cheryl, and I'm not really sure I have anything else to add. Maybe sometimes it's just an easy/enjoyable way to categorize a theme, or a good way to make a book appealing to multiple age groups (i.e., the books that can be read to younger kids but also contain more educational back-matter that bumps up the experience for older kids, too)?

Good thinking. I can easily see an older child being glad to be able to read an alphabet book to a younger sibling or cousin, for example.

I'm a new joiner, so late to the topic.. I'm always on the look out for good ABC books used for teaching or expanding on the alphabet. After you cycle through a lot, you gather some strong preferences. I much prefer the books which have both upper and lower case. And I am quite irked by the books which use the less commonly written, but more commonly typed "a" and "g". I looked at a very popular one the other day which actually used both types of lower case "a"s.

I just looked at the big list of alphabet books. Plenty for me to explore over time, plus several which are already my favorites. Appreciations to all contributors.

Not without faults, but I would add a few recs I didn't see there;

Eric Carle's ABC
Alphabetter by Bar-el and Ross

and 2 Gomi Taro books, published in Japan.
The great limitation of these 2 is that the descriptive text is all in Japanese. In English is just the letter (upper and lower case) plus the designated word, for example;
A, a Alligator.
On the cover they are called plainly ABC Book 1, ABC book 2 but even Amazon.jp lists them by a title strictly in Japanese. The illustrations are stunningly cute and the books are among my list of favorites.