Richard Scarry's Chipmunk's ABC
by Roberta Miller
illustrated by Richard Scarry
Date: 1976
Publisher: Golden Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: library
Chipmunk lives under the apple tree, in a burrow. He likes to eat cake and pick daffodils. This cheerful book features appealing animal characters, bright artwork in Scarry's early painterly style, and simple sentences that teach the alphabet.
(synopsis from Goodreads)
This is actually the strongest alphabet book that I've reviewed; it's kind of funny that it's older than I am!
Going into a book published in 1976, I wondered if it was going to be a bit dated. I was surprised at how well it stands up. It's not even overly gendered (although there aren't very many girls in the story); it's nice to see the boys making tea and cutting the cheese (actual cheese, not... you know). The only thing that might require some explanation is M is for mumps. Hopefully parents won't scare their kids half to death (so... maybe this book would be better read to the child by a grandparent or great-grandparent who can explain that mumps is not as bad as the media makes it out to be).
What I really liked was how most of the letters had multiple examples of words that started with that letter. The pictures were okay; they were kind of nostalgic for me, but I read a lot of Richard Scarry books when I was little. Overall, it's a pretty strong example of an alphabet book, and I can see little kids wanting to read it over and over.
Quotable moment:
H is for hide-and-seek. Chipmunk and his friends hide in holes and hedges.
Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Overall: 3.67 out of 5
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