Alphabet Animals

An ABC book illustrated with paintings, sculpture, and photographs of animals from American and international museum collections

Grade 1 Up-- An elegant collection of reproductions of animals, A to Z. A Rembrandt drawing, Chagall painting, Toyonobu woodcut, Graverson photograph, and an ancient Iranian bronze are among the works of art used to depict a four-legged beastie. Presented either as fully created or as a vignette of a larger work, they are all well reproduced. Also handsomely offered on the facing page for each animal is an upper-case letter in a color appropriate to the artwork. A short poem, set in a large serif type, with wide margins and generous spaces between the lines, occupies the area below. The selections are reminiscent of Ogden Nash's lighthearted verses for Saint-Saens's ``Carnival of the Animals.'' Meter and rhymes vary; all succeed in picking up some property or characteristic of the animal and shaping it into a linguistic smile-provoker. Indeed, the intimacy of words and picture make it hard to decide if the verses are fancy captions or if the reproductions are illustrations. There are a couple of lines of biographical information at the foot of each page of verse, and appended annotations provide the medium, size of the original, and the owners. Sullivan writes simply, engaging readers' imaginations and capturing objects in fresh and pleasurable ways. --Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This latest entry into the crowded field of ABC books is a contemplative trip through the animal kingdom as depicted through fine art. Illustrated with paintings, photographs and sculptures that represent a fair, broad cross-section of time periods and techniques, this volume is a feast for the eyes. Each letter of the alphabet designates a different animal or closely related subject (i.e., "V" for veterinarian), and each spread contains both a clear identification of the illustration and a concise biographical sketch of the artist. Unfortunately, the striking visuals are accompanied by trite, forced poems that often detract from the mood set by the art. The reproductions here are of exceptionally high quality and will better serve young readers as an art appreciation resource than as a basic letter-recognition tool--for which any number of serviceable titles exist. All ages.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Twenty-six glorious works of art, distinguished by their appeal for children, excellent reproduction, and variety--a lion from a Japanese photographer, Calder's folded kangaroo, an ancient Iranian ibex in bronze, an abstract-expressionist whale, a romantic tiger by Delacroix, a Warhol rhinoceros. For each, Sullivan adds a few lines of mildly whimsical verse, unpretentious but pleasant, nicely meeting his intention of varying ``mood, rhythm, rhyme, and sentence structure, so that young readers can [also] begin to enjoy the different shadings and tones of poems.'' A splendid way to introduce fine art--or the alphabet. (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.