Alphabet Under Construction - Hardcover

Fleming, Denise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805068481 ISBN 13: 9780805068481

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2002

Synopsis

An artist's approach to introducing the alphabet

Mouse airbrushes the A,
buttons the B,
carves the C . . .

Mouse is hard at work constructing each letter of the alphabet. He dyes the D, erases the E, and folds the F. Mouse works his way right through to Z, constructing an alphabet that surpasses even the wildest artistic imagination.

A bright, beautiful concept book from best selling picture book Denise Fleming.

About this title

Review:

The only one having a better time than the buck-toothed Mouse in Alphabet Under Construction is Denise Fleming, the gifted writer and illustrator who here brings back the hungry hero of Lunch for a trip through the alphabet and an arts-and-crafts roll call.

Letter by letter, page by page, the playful Mouse "constructs" the alphabet--airbrushing the A, buttoning the B, carving the C, and so on, employing all manner of scaffolds, ladders, and high- and low-tech devices to get the job done. (Clearly Mouse didn't really blow his budget until near the end, on the custom tiles, the X-ray machine, and the welding equipment.) Fleming employs an arcane process that involves "pouring colored cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils" to create her distinctive style. But fortunately, you don't have to have any idea what that means to enjoy her sense of humor, her vibrant colors, and her boisterous compositions.

Mouse gets messy before it's all over, but he delivers the alphabet on time--and only has to work two weekends! (As a funny touch, Fleming includes a note-covered project calendar that Mouse collapses under as he finishes.) Alphabet Under Construction also includes a fold-out, 42-by-7-inch poster that shows every page, from A to Z. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

About the Author:

Denise Fleming has written and illustrated many children's books, including In the Tall, Tall Grass, Shout! Shout It Out!, and Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy. She won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. Denise published her first painting in the third grade, when she started taking classes at the Toledo Museum of Art and one of her paintings was chosen to be the cover of a teacher's magazine. She now works primarily with paper, by pouring colored paper pulp through hand-cut stencils. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0805068481
• ISBN 13: 9780805068481
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Fleming Denise