Customer Reviews

Alphabet Under Construction

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dear little mouse has a big job to do, building the entire alphabet with art supplies and construction tools, and he gets right to work Airbrushing the A, Buttoning the B, and Carving the C. And as he moves quickly, letter by letter, Folding the F, Measuring the M, Pruning the P, Vacuuming the V, or Zipping the Z, little ones will revel in all the creative fun. Author, Denise Fleming's text is kept to a bare minimum, just the letter and construction verb. It's her big, bold, and vibrant artwork, dazzling with entertaining details and engaging humor, that makes this book stand out. Perfect for preschoolers, Alphabet Under Construction is not just another "learn your letters" picture book, but an imaginative and inventive, joyous romp that shouldn't be missed.

Fleming's art is fantastic--her abstract art works really well here in this context. A wonderful romp through the alphabet with the mouse from Lunch--witty variations on what to do with each letter as the mouse tries to build the alphabet in order (action verbs introduce each letter: the mouse kinks the "k" and vacuums the "v"). The book also comes with a poster--a nice addition for those who like Fleming's work. Highly recommended.

I have a four year old daughter who knows her alphabet well, but she still loves this book. It really isn't a great teaching guide, but adorable nonetheless and entertaining to a little one.

If your little one already knows the alphabet, this book is still interesting because of the vocabulary used as mouse constructs each letter of the alphabet. For example, mouse, "ices the I", which my son thought was strange until I told him what icing was.

Denise Fleming is a fabulous author and illustrator. A fun read for the kids.

With vivid illustrations, it's a nice change of pace to read an alphabet book that uses verbs instead of just nouns. For example the mouse "buttons the B" instead of just showing the word/picture button, butterfly etc. Very cute book and a great learning tool.

Although normally a Fleming fan, I was extremely disappointed in Alphabet Under Construction. For babies and toddlers just beginning to learn the alphabet, Fleming's illustrations make it difficult to discern letter shape. Particularly problematic is the letter "W", in which Mouse welds a bar of steel between W's two interior angled lines. Unfortunately, this means that the inside of the W appears to be an "A". My two year old misidentifies the "W" as an A every time, and technically, he's correct. Ultimately, the illustrated letters are too abstract for children learning their alphabet. Unlike another commenter, I believe that this book is more appropriate for children who have already mastered the basics of the alphabet and are simply building on that knowledge: namely, preschoolers.

For babies and toddlers, there are better introductory alphabet books out there.

Amazon recommends this book for the' Baby to Preschool' age range, but unless your child doesn't know their alphabet, I would say it is too simplistic for a preschooler.

That said, it is a innovative, sturdy book that should delight toddlers and older babies. It shows a mouse hard at work, constructing and improving the letters of the alphabet. He `airbrushes' the A, for example, and `hangs' the H, `yanks' the Y and so on.

The use of a verb that correspond with the letter in question, gives parents/caregivers the chance to point out (i.e. teach) the connection between the letter and it's sound. For example: The mouse *judges* the J.
*Judge* has the `juh', j-sound.

In addition, this book offers toddlers the chance to learn about the structure of reading. How text flows from page to page, and left to right. And they will also have a chance to pretend to read by remembering and reciting bits and pieces of the book because the text is not too long.

Four Stars. The artwork is cute and the text is large enough that you won't need glasses (lol). Babies should enjoy the mouse, and Toddlers should enjoy the silliness. Both groups can learn and reinforce their understanding of letters, words, and reading. Parents can emphasize, letter sounds, word construction and memory work.

This is a charmingly different alphabet book than most. There is a lot of creativity in it. The title would lead one to think that it is about construction as in bulldozers, contractors, etc. It is however more of a alphabet of home repair. The mouse, Airbrushes an A, Levels an L, Measures an M and Welds a W. The only 2 downsides:
1) not all letters fit the motif (e.g. Vaccuums, XRays and Zips) but those are hard letters to work with
2) I find the whymsical images to be cute but don't care for the style of art