Alphabatics

Type: Alphabet
Recommended For: N-P
At twenty one, it can be hard to connect with alphabet books. Having known my alphabet since I was six, I haven't found myself reading these types of books in a long time. They certainly seem to have gotten more creative. Such is the case with Suse MacDonald's Alphabatics. MacDonald uses the letters of the alphabet in each colorful geometric print. A zebra's face is made up of several z's next to each other, a yak's head is made of the letter y. This could become a fun activity for students learning to write their letters, and can be used as a helpful reminder for howthey're supposed to look. There's a lot of white space on the pages, but this is effective at keeping the page from being cluttered and show more overwhelming. I will say that some of the letters don't translate into the drawings very clearly which is annoying to me and confusing for a child. The worst is the F in fish, which shows a nice looking, obvious fish on the right page and a clumsy drawing of a strangely square thing which looks like neither a fish, nor the letter F. Having said that, the book certainly is fun, and a good early introduction to the alphabet. show less

A is for ark. But did you know that if you turn an A upside down and round the point out a little, it becomes an ark? B is for balloon. But did you know that if you blow it up really big, the hole in the middle floats away like a balloon? In this wonderfully creative alphabet book, letters are pulled, twisted, reversed, and curled until they become part of what they represent. F becomes a fish, and Y becomes a yak!

Alphabatics is a fun and creative way of introducing or reinforcing the alphabet to young readers. The letters tumble, somersault, and transform to become part of the picture that represents them. Some letters seem like a little bit of a stretch, but with some imagination it's not a problem. A very young reader might be confused by the concept, but it depends on the child.

This book provides a fresh and unique way of looking at a concept that might seem old to some students. Students could reinforce the concept in an imaginative way by creating their own pictures from letters.

The purpose of this book is clear, precise, and to the point. Each page is clearly marked with a letter (capitol and lower case) accompanying with an object or animal. This book follows the formula of all the most common alphabet books; alphabets are presented clearly with objects and animals, there is only one object per letter, the objects are common, and the illustrator/author's point is clear. What makes this alphabet book a bit different from others is that the letter morphs into the object. It is fun to the see the letter change appearance slowly to take form as the object or animal. This book is interesting and entertaining for a young child learning the alphabet to an older child who wants to look at a book for fun. I would show more recommend this book to any young child for the fun playful way the alphabet is presented and for the learning.
Ages 3-5 show less

This is an amazing alphabet book. The pictures are very basic, but quite in depth. What I like about this book is the author had a specific reason for picking the object the stands for each letter. For example, C stands for clown because the clown's smile looks like the letter C. The letter M is for mustache because the man's mustache looks like the letter M. This is such a clever book and would lead lots of things to talk about which students.

Each letter is shown in its upper and lower case version. Then each letter metamorphosis’ into an object beginning with that letter. It shows in block format how that is done so any age child can see and visualize what is happening. This is very creative as well as clever. The illustrations are the major part of this book. They are simple and clear. Easy to see the changes as they happen.

This alphabet book shows each letter morphing into whatever MacDonald has chosen for the letter. The illustrations are large and fitting for young children learning the alphabet. It is all very ordinary...yet cute and creative. The book does show just one word for each letter so children will outgrow it quickly.