The Absolutely Awful Alphabet [Hardcover]

Mordicai Gerstein (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

The alphabet never looked like this before--these letters have drippy noses, scratchy hair, and green teeth. They chase each other and pinch each other, and stick out their tongues. Zany art gives each letter a spectacular new personality, and the humorous, alliterative text is sure to stretch young readers’ vocabularies. Readers young and old will never forget these twenty-six letters . . . and will never look at the alphabet the same way again.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Suppose each letter in the alphabet were some ghoulish creep. ("A is an awfully arrogant Amphibian...") And suppose each ensuing letter, nastier than the last, was about to attack, or get attacked by, one of its neighbors. ("P, a particularly putrid Predator ... plans to pulverize Q, a quivering, quizzical Quacker...") You'd have the delightfully spooky and suspenseful version of the alphabet that is Mordicai Gerstein's The Absolutely Awful Alphabet. Alphabet lessons have never been so slimy, ugly, nasty, or just plain weird, and Gerstein's illustrations strike just the right tone. With their blue tongues, frizzy black nose hairs, pointy fangs, and slit eyes, these letters are wonderfully terrible to behold. The best of the worst? V, a "voracious vegetable vampire who is viciously vile." Warning: You'll never look at an ear of corn the same way again. (Ages 5 and older) --Jean Lenihan

From Publishers Weekly

With each letter more hideous and mean than the last, this alphabet will supply kids with an abundance of insults. Gerstein (Stop Those Pants!) fashions each letter as an imaginary creature, from the scaly "awfully arrogant Amphibian" A to the striped, grinning "zigzagging zoological Zany" Z. He also links the letters; the "hideously Horrible" H hates "impossible Ignoramus" I, who is irritated by J, and so on. Gerstein panders to the baser impulses with gleeful good cheer: his vegetable vampire, an ear of corn with pointy teeth, is especially silly. The bright oil portraits of the vile characters may well fire young imaginations. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152014942
• ISBN-13: 978-0152014940
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #858,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Amusing, January 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Absolutely Awful Alphabet (Hardcover)

I chose to read this book for a Children's Lit. class in college. It was one of the most amusing alphabet books I found. The pictures are absolutely great. The book contains tons of volcabulary words (ie. ferocious, jabbering, and quizzical) for those who already know their ABCs. It could be used in the classroom by having kids make up their own monsters using letters assigned to them. Then they could all be compiled to make an alphabet book written and illustrated by the whole class.

Overall, I loved this book. Kids will have a lot of fun with this one!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OMG I LOVE THIS, September 5, 2009

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Absolutely Awful Alphabet (Paperback)

Many alphabet books are aggressively "real". They feel they have to be in order to illustrate what the letter stands for. That's cool.

This is different. The author decided to make each individual letter its own character. It's own VILE character, that is. (V is a vegetable vampire, obviously our favorite!) Each letter is in some way influenced by the one next in line... often picking on that one, but sometimes annoyed by it.

The illustrations are suitably "awful", full of teeth and glares (while still being recognizeably letters). And the vocabulary...! A far cry from apples and balls and cats, here the action is all in the adjectives (and sometimes verbs). We get arrogant, voracious, envious, grotesque, cantankerous... well! If this doesn't improve your child's vocabulary, I'll personally send you your money back! (No, no I won't.)

Every library needs this book. I think I'll even buy a few more copies for my niece to give to her pre-k class this year, or her kindergarten class next year!

Edit: Still adore this book, just wanted to mention something I noticed on re-read. All the K- words for K (a Knave) are Kn- words. So maybe that's a little bit confusing for the younger set.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than what I thought it would be, February 20, 2010

By 

CLP "C" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Absolutely Awful Alphabet (Paperback)

So far this book seems pretty fun to read...even for me :) I like the way each letter ties into the next and hope that my daughter catches on quicker while learning the alphabet.