Alphabet Explosion!: Search and Count from Alien to Zebra - Hardcover

Nickle, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375835989 ISBN 13: 9780375835988

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade, 2006

Synopsis

It's an alphabet explosion!

18 things in this book begin with the letter "A", 19 start with "H", and there are 37 ways of counting "S".

Can you find them all?

As you search, discover dazzling worlds where poodles paint, crows ride in corn-on-the-cob cars, unicorns wear underwear, and so much more. And when you've counted your way from A-Z, check your answers in the back of the book that lists all 421 things that appear.

About this title

About the Author

John Nickle is the author and illustrator of THE ANT BULLY and TV REX, as well as the illustrator of Judi Barrett's THINGS THAT ARE MOST IN THE WORLD. THE ANT BULLY is scheduled to be released as a Warner Bros. movie next summer and Midway recently bought the video game rights. The author lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3–This title combines a traditional alphabet book with a search-and-find picture puzzle. Each page is a mix of images jumbled together, and at the bottom of each page, readers are given the number of items to look for that start with a particular letter, such as 20 Ks or 8 Us. Answer keys are provided in the back of the book. Combining a variety of elements and styles, including line drawings, etchings, and paintings in one picture creates a surrealist effect, with a hippo in a hula hoop and a patch-wearing poodle painting a portrait of a parrot. It is unlikely that youngsters will find all 32 words beginning with T unless they recognize a tapir, or remember to count the 13 turquoise trees as three words. The books main drawback is the complexity of the rules for play, which cover two pages at the beginning. Fans of Walter Wicks picture-puzzle books will enjoy studying this title and may find many of the items, provided they have a firm grasp of the alphabet and a strong vocabulary.–Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Too often alphabet books feel more like vehicles for artists' work than child-friendly offerings. This abecedarian title, by the author-illustrator of The Ant Bully (1999) and TV Rex (2001), avoids that trap by combining fine artwork with a fanciful hunt-and-seek game. Each wordless page features animals and objects whose names begin with a featured letter. A number indicates how many items are buried within the picture. The L page, for example, shows a lobster browsing in a library, a ladybug pushing a lawnmower, a kitschy lamp shaped like a llama, and so on. Nickle's finely rendered scenes are imaginative, humorous, and sophisticated, and he incorporates a free-flowing range of artistic styles that adds energy to the pages. The book's object-counting game, which requires some spelling ability, seems aimed at literate, elementary-school (or older) readers, who will flip to Nickle's appended answer key, but young children just learning to identify letters and objects will also be enthralled by the fantastical groupings of images. A versatile offering with plenty of classroom application. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375835989
• ISBN 13: 9780375835988
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Nickle John
• Number of pages: 40