ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book [Hardcover]

Alison Jay (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up

B is for boy...but in Alison Jay's ABC, B also stands for basket, beehive, and butterfly! Simple in format, with a letter and word on every page and bright paintings of everyday items, ABC is perfect for toddlers. As with the acclaimed Picture This..., each turn of the page reveals numerous visual surprises.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-An inventive and beautifully illustrated book. Each page features a scene highlighting one object (apple, balloon, cow, etc.), the corresponding upper- and lowercase letter, and a simple declarative sentence ("a is for apple"). Most of the items will be familiar to young listeners. Each featured object is surrounded by several smaller things that begin with the same letter, as well as a tiny image of the key item on the following page. Thus, young readers can play "I Spy" and reinforce their understanding of the letter and its sound. The pictures add another dimension, telling an underlying story, as a woman bids farewell to a man who embarks on a journey that leads him to exotic settings where he encounters many of the featured objects. This element of fantasy is sure to provide smiles of recognition and delight. The final picture brings everyone and everything together in a nontraditional zoo. As in Jay's Picture This- (Dutton, 2000), the illustrations are captivating. The watercolor washes are done over backgrounds that simulate crazed porcelain, lending an old-fashioned feel to the paintings. The colors are easy on the eye, and the scenes are filled with marvelous detail, a clear sense of movement, and more than a touch of whimsy. A list of the items included appears at the end. More extensive than Bruno Munari's ABC (1960; Chronicle, 2003), this is a sure bet for youngsters who like to participate actively while learning their letters.
Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* PreS-Gr. 2. Similar in look and concept to Jay's Picture This (2000), this imaginative alphabet book offers visual clues to track and a story to tease out in its beautiful paintings. Each picture focuses on one large item that corresponds to a letter in the alphabet, named below the picture. For "C is for cow," a cow with an elongated body arches across a sky spreading over a landscape dotted with other items having names beginning with the letter C (a car and a cat, for example), which show up again in later pictures. The woman driving the car appears in many pictures, as does a man, first seen in a hot-air balloon, who goes on a trip and corresponds with the woman. Older children will flip from page to page, finding the simple story, drawing connections, and naming the letter-related objects. Younger ones can simply enjoy the delightful paintings with their crackle-glazed folk art look and touches of humor, including a bespectacled giraffe trimming topiary, an owl wearing a pence nez, and other animals who appear together for the last letter and word, the inevitable "z is for zoo." Kathleen Odean
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525469516
• ISBN-13: 978-0525469513
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,175,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It grows on you..., June 9, 2005

By 

Ulyyf "Connie" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book (Board book)

I wasn't especially impressed when I first saw this book. A is for apple, B is for balloon, C is for cow, basic stuff. The only thing interesting was "X marks the spot" instead of "X is for X-ray or Xylophone".

Then I realized that I'd seen many of the creatures in Z is for zoo earlier in the book.

So I re-read it. Several re-reads later, I realized that there was a tentative story in this book. Do the women and the man love each other? They write letters. Hearts are a periodic motif. The woman paints, the man explores. Do they miss each other?

So maybe a toddler won't understand that. But this is an alphabet book they'll read past toddlerhood.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, January 13, 2004

By 

Rhino king "DC" (Cincinnati, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book for babies up to preschool. The pictures are simple at first, but the harder you look the more you see. My two year old enjoys shouting out everything she sees in the pictures. It is fun for us as parents to read as well. We try to find everything with that letter. It is kind of like a Where's Waldo for little ones.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new discovery at each reading...>!, August 18, 2008

By 

A. Beaupre "BA_BigApple" (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book (Board book)

I love reading this book to my 7 month old. The illustrations are gorgeous for adults to enjoy and whimsical and fun for children to gaze at. Every time we read it, I find something new I hadn't seen before -- it's such an inventive book with a lovely little "storyline" and connections between pages. We'll never get bored with it!