Alligators All Around

Title: Alligators All Around

Bibliography: Maurice Sendak. (1991). Alligators All Around. New York: Harper Collins.

Short Annotation: In Alligators All Around, Each page has a letter which is represented with a picture corresponding to the two or three word phrase describing what the alligators are doing.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: Pre-K-K

Readers who will like this book: Children who are learning their ABC’s.

Personal response and rating: It had fun illustrations. I think children will really enjoy learning the alphabet with this book, although I got a bit bored with it. Rating: 3

Question: Does anyone know their ABC’s? Do you think Alligators know their ABC’s?

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The Unicorn Alphabet

Title: The Unicorn Alphabet

Bibliographic Information: Mayer, Marianna (1989). The unicorn alphabet. New York: Dial Books.

Annotation: This book is about an adventurous Unicorn. On each page a letter is being represented and each letter represents the unicorn in some way.

Genre: Alphabet Book

Grade level: Grades 2^nd-5^th

Readers who will like this book: This book is for advanced readers who have a passion for unicorns and who need a refresher on the alphabet.

Personal response/rating: I rate this book a 1, because the vocabulary being used is pretty challenging and the book was hard for me to follow. I am personally not interested in unicorns either. This book did not keep very entertained and I thought the illustrations could have been better.

Question I would ask before the reading: Are unicorns real?

LMNO peas

Baker, K. (2010). LMNO peas. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books.

Keith Baker’s book LMNO peas is a fresh, unique take on an alphabet book. In his use of rhythmic text, Baker emphasizes uniqueness and contextualizes the alphabet through a variety of different occupations all had by peas!

Genre: Poetry

Grade Level: K-1st

Readers who will like this book: Children who enjoy rhymes, children who enjoy fantasy, children learning the alphabet.

Response and rating: 4; I like this book because it is much more complex than just any old alphabet book. It really kept hold of my attention, and I loved that it provided a message to kids about being different and unique. The wide variety of occupations covered in the book was pretty impressive to me, as most that I have read only depict stereotypical occupations. I loved that he last pages of the book end with the question “Who are you?” as it provides children with a more interactive experience.

Question: If you could have any career in the whole wide world, what would you want to be when you get older? What letter does that career title start with?

So Many Bunnies: A Bedtime ABC and Counting Book

Bibliographic information: Walton, R., & Miglio, P. (1998). So many bunnies: A bedtime abc and counting book. New York: Scholastic.

Short annotation: So many Bunnies is a bedtime ABC and counting book, about mother rabbit who had twenty-six children. Mother rabbit named all her children in order of the letters of the alphabet.

The genre: Picture, Fiction, ABC book, Counting book

Grade level: First book to First grade

Readers who will like this book: Some readers that will like this book are young children learning their ABCs and 1,2,3’s, parents and educators both looking for either a good ABC book or counting book.

Personal response and rating: I would give this book a 4; I really liked that this books incorporated both number and letters. I also really liked that the pictures in this book were so detailed and correctly displayed each individual bunny in the many family photos that were hanging from the walls.

Question: How many letters are in the alphabet?

Animalia

Title: Animalia

Bibliographic information: Base, G. (1986). Animalia. New York: Puffin Group

Brief annotation:This is an alphabet book that uses one letter per page and images that correspond to that letter – especially animals.

Genre: Picture book, poetry

Grade level: K – 3

Readers who will like this: Children who really like animals and/or are learning the alphabet.

Rating: 4 – This book is a great book for children who are learning the alphabet. It might be harder for younger children but it is a great book for parents to read.

Question: What is your favorite animal? Can you describe it with a word that starts with the same letter?

Learning strategy: Have students write their own alphabet book with things that are important to them.

LMNO Peas

Bibliographic Information: Baker, K. (2010). LMNO peas. New York: Beach Lane Books.

Brief Annotation: A group of peas explore the alphabet by listing a variety of occupations and vocations that begin with each letter.

Genre: Poetry

Grade Level: PreK-3

Readers who will like this: Children who are exploring the alphabet; children who like learning about occupations; children with a sense of humor.

Rating/Response: 4.5; This is a particularly enjoyable alphabet book. The peas are portrayed in a fairly gender-neutral way, enabling children to envision themselves in any of the occupations and vocations listed in the book. Rhyming books are popular with children and assist with early literacy as they provide oral clues as to what the final word in a phrase might be. The illustrations are colorful, and the occupations and vocations go far beyond the usual scope of an occupations-themed book.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: What are some jobs that people do? After the book, I might ask, “Which of those jobs would you like to do?”

Museum ABC

Museum ABC The Metropolitan Museum of Art.. (2002). New York: Little, Brown and Company.

This is an ABC book using works of art found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Genre: Alphabet Book, Picturebook

Grades: K-3rd

Audience: Parents, Teachers, Students

I would give this book a rating of four. I would give it this rating because not only does this book teach children the letters of the alphabet, it also teaches them about different styles, periods, and extravagance of art. However, I would not give it a full five because the words are simple and have no theme to them.

Has anyone ever been to an art museum?