Review - Alphabetter

Alphabetter
by Dan Bar-el
illustrated by Graham Ross
Date: 2006
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 30
Format: e-book
Source: library

Did you ever try to use an egg in place of a football? Or dress up a live quail in doll's clothes when you didn't have a doll? Or strap rag-dolls onto your feet in place of slippers? In Alphabetter, twenty-six boys and girls find themselves in twenty-six different predicaments when the alphabet refuses to cooperate with them. In the end, the solution turns out to be right on the next page, if only they can find it.

Did you find all the letters hidden in the pictures in Alphabetter? Some of them are very hard to find! These are the ones that we know about. Maybe you found others as well. Happy searching!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This alphabet book is a little bit different. On each page, there's a child whose name starts with a particular letter of the alphabet. They have an object (that also starts with that same letter), but what they really need is a different object (that starts with the next letter in the alphabet). On and on it goes, and I found this part to be a bit tedious. (Little kids might feel differently, though.) Finally, we get to Zara and her zamboni. What she really wants is a friend... so she gives the zamboni to Yanni, who gives his yoga mat to Xena, and you can see where that's going. All the way back to the beginning of the alphabet!

On the copyright page, the reader is informed that there are 26 letters hidden on the individual pages. I looked, but I could only find a few. This is an alphabet book, which means it's likely aimed at very young children. If finding the letters is too difficult for adults, then I question how appropriate an activity it is for toddlers!

The idea of this is cute, though, and the repetition (while annoying to adults) will probably be relished by kids, especially when they see everything going in reverse and the characters finally getting the objects they need.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5