There's a Monster in the Alphabet [Hardcover]

James Rumford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2002 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

According to Herodotus, an Ancient Greek historian, a Phoenician named Cadmus brought the alphabet to Greece. In the ancient myths, Cadmus was a hero who fought a ferocious monster and founded the city of Thebes. Cadmus was so famous that his deeds were told and retold throughout the ancient world.

In this modern retelling, James Rumford uses the alphabet that Cadmus brought to Greece to recount the hero’s own story. Part truth, part fancy, this different kind of alphabet book takes its reader on a journey to the distant past, when our letters were not just marks to record sounds but were pictures of eyes and hands, doors and fences, giant teeth and . . . monsters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For older readers, the myth of Cadmus (reputed to have brought the alphabet to Greece) is reimagined in There's a Monster in the Alphabet by James Rumford. The author explains what each letter stood for ("A was once a picture of an ox"; N, the monster's serpentine curves), and weaves the history into a story. Glorious illustrations call to mind the images of a Grecian urn, set against a backdrop of fiery orange, black and purple watercolors. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Recent discoveries in Egypt indicate that the letters of our alphabet might have originally been pictures, possibly put in an order that told a story. Using his imagination, Rumford retells the myth of Cadmus, the Phoenician hero who brought the alphabet to Greece. "A" was a picture of an ox, and Rumford's story starts with Cadmus in Greece, where he is told "If you seek your fortune, follow an ox with moon-shaped marks." The illustration shows a letter "A" placed upside-down on the ox's face to indicate how the picture might have come to be. The mixed-media illustrations, inspired by ancient Greek art, are in tones of rusty orange, black, and purple. The dramatic scenes take up each spread, with a few lines of text telling the story across the bottom, and a few explanatory notes at the top. The story is exciting on its own, but readers will enjoy the added layer of the alphabet's story. Rumford gives no details about how much of the story is his own elaboration, and readers will find their curiosity only tickled by his endnotes, which explain how much is still unknown about our alphabet. A chart compares the English, Phoenician, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic alphabets, and allows readers to decode the phrases Rumford placed into his illustration-in Phoenician. Artful design, dramatic execution, and attention to detail mark this complicated but thoroughly enjoyable book. Like Rumford's Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 (Houghton, 2001), this is a title for readers intrigued by the ancient past and its connection to our lives today.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 1st Ed. edition (September 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618221409
• ISBN-13: 978-0618221400
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,511,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading "There's a Monster in the Alphabet", January 15, 2006

By 

Beth Williamson "Queen of the Book Worms" (Huntsville TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: There's a Monster in the Alphabet (Hardcover)

For any child who has discovered Greek mythology and is interested in the development of the alphabet, this book is a real adventure!

He tells a familiar Greek story about sowing the dragon's teeth and relates it to the alphabet.

For eager young detectives, there are secret messages on some of the pages.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I learned the alphabet, but where did it come from?, January 9, 2007

By 

J. Renfro "bibliophile" (florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: There's a Monster in the Alphabet (Hardcover)

Nice illustrations and explaination of development of our alphabet. Great for early readers and those with an interest in Mythology. Ending reference includes other alphabet forms and their relationships to our own.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Treat, August 8, 2010

By 

Keeping It Real - See all my reviews

This review is from: There's a Monster in the Alphabet (Hardcover)

Even if the history of our alphabet is of no interest to the reader, this book is quite enjoyable because it also tells a mythological story that isn't often encountered. It manages to do this with a minimal word count, so that the book is an easy read and enjoyable to even my 4-year old. The pictures are great and, as a bonus, it unobtrusively provides interesting information about the history of our alphabet. It's easy to read for the story alone, but will have even more value as my daughter grows to better understand and care about the alphabet.