Animal Action ABC [Hardcover]

Karen Pandell (Author), Nancy Sheehan (Illustrator)

Book Description

An innovative alphabet book invites small children to imitate twenty-six different animals as they box, leap, and stretch their way from A to Z, and each spread features an animal and children in imitating poses.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Urging children to "Arch," "Balance" and "Charge" like familiar animals, Animal Action ABC by Karen Pandell is an imaginative and dynamic alphabet book. The large format pairs brilliant nature photographs (by Art Wolfe) with photo silhouettes (by Nancy Sheehan) of children mimicking the animals' movements. For example, as rhyming text exhorts readers to "Inflate like a frigatebird," a photo shows the bird puffing out its enormous red throat pouch; another photo shows a girl blowing up a red balloon. Detailed endnotes crown the work. Grandmother's Alphabet by Eve Shaw presents a gallery of talented and inspiring grandmothers: "Grandma is an Artist, she paints with colors bright/ Grandma is a Businesswoman who often works at night." Along with the rhyming verse, running text suggests other professions, too. For the letter "Q," for example, Grandma can be a quilter, quartet member or quality controller "...and so can
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4^-6. This is not so much a vehicle for teaching the alphabet as it is an opportunity to help children learn action words and let them get the wiggles out by imitating animals. From Arch to Balance, 26 action words, each headed by a different letter of the alphabet, are introduced, each accompanied by a pleasant verse that links the word to an animal. For example, W for Wrestle ("Wrestle / like two tigers / Grappling with each other / But soon you'll stop / to stare at / And honor / one another.") is shown alongside a photo of tigers at play. A cutaway photo of a child or children mimicking the animal's action is presented with each letter-word-poem combination. The poetry is sometimes strained (and sometimes just too silly), and the layout, though spacious, looks too chopped up. But the idea is wonderful and carried through well enough to make the book a source of fun for children and inspiration for their teachers. Stephanie Zvirin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 44 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1st edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525454861
• ISBN-13: 978-0525454861
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn more than ABC, June 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Animal Action ABC (Hardcover)

My 2 and 3 year olds love this book. The pictures are bright and captivating, and the kids love to follow the poems with their own motions. Animal Action ABC combines lessons on ABCs, animals and gross motor skills. My son learned to jump and stand on one foot from acting out this book. For the reader, it can take a few readings to get the hang of the odd pentameter, but the children don't notice your mistakes. They are far too busy pretending to be a grapling tiger or an elephant blowing water from his trunk. Boys seem to especially enjoy this book, but my little girl is a big fan too.

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and lots of fun, August 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Animal Action ABC (Hardcover)

A different take on the boring "A" is for "Apple" ABC book. The wildlife pictures are beautiful. As a mom, my personal favorite is the "R" is for "Ride" showing a newborn gorilla riding on it's mom's back. I've given this book as a gift and it's been well received.