A Helpful Alphabet of Friendly Objects

Updike, John

ISBN 10: 0679843248 / ISBN 13: 9780679843245

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995

About this Item

32 pages. First edition, first printing. Photographs by David Updike. Signed by John Updike on the title page. As new book in an as new dust jacket. A beautiful copy! Seller Inventory # 963777264276

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Helpful Alphabet of Friendly Objects

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York

Publication Date: 1995

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Poems and photographs present common objects for each letter of the alphabet

From Publishers Weekly:

In addition to illustrious name of Updike, this extraordinary alphabet book offers numerous rewards-poems that are by turns thoughtful and lively; crisp photographs that seem both familiar and new; and a book design so fresh and appealing as to ensure repeat readings. Each poem and photograph describes ordinary things-apple, cat, eggs, shoes and socks-in language and images playfully accessible to preschoolers. "At evening/ when the grass is dewy," reads the poem for "R," "out hops the rabbit/ feeling chewy." For the letter H, a photo shows a boy crouched beside a gleaming chrome hubcap in which his image is reflected "stretched sideways like gum." Clever design elements begin with bright endpapers that repeat the interior photographs and letters; within, the typeface in "D" changes with each word comparing dogs and cats (a dog is "jumpier," its tail is "thumpier," etc.) in a kind of visual onomatopoeia; the words of the K-is-for-knot poem loop and meander to mimic "the thing that happens to string"; the photos appear in ovals and circles as well as standard squares and rectangles. This book is an introduction not only to letters but to looking at people and objects "as if you were/ inside them for a ride." Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.