The Three Bears ABC: An Alphabet Book

I will admit I was skeptical when I saw this book thinking that it might be forced and that the ABC aspect would alter the story of the three bears.  I was pleasantly surprised.   The flow of the story was not in any way strained and I found myself wondering how the author would tie the next letter into the story. 

"C is for cool.  The bears waited for the hot porridge to cool. So Papa put on his cap, Mama her cape, and Baby his coat."

"O is for open.  The bears found their front door open.  How odd!" 

A wonderful addition to any study of the Three Bears.  Older/advanced students could be challenged to anticipate how the next letter will be added to the story. 

Text:  5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

ABC Zooborns! Andrew Bleiman

Join adorable baby zoo animals and venture through the alphabet.  Beginning with anteater, each page features a photograph of a zoo baby and a short rhyme describe the animal.

"D is for dhole.  Don't you wish your peepers were as dreamy as mine?"

Text:  5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Augie to Zebra by Kate Endle & Caspar Babypants

I am always on the lookout for a good alphabet book and this new book is a nice one to add to the list.  Each page features a letter with a short phrase, including a name.  In addition each page has a few "extras" on the page that are not mentioned in the phrase but also starts with the same beginning letter.

Frederico follows frogs

Students may have difficulty with the pronunciation of some of the names.  The illustrations are fun and cheerful.  Great possibilities for stretching students understanding of beginning letter sounds.

Text:  4Buckeye leaves
illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

A Is For Zebra by Mark Shulman

A is for zebra?  D is for bald head?  E is for me?  It is when the books is about ENDING letters!  Finally a book that looks at the end of the word.  We have been working on this in "Mommy summer school" here at our house so this fits perfectly.  Great, FUN illustrations with great captions to be read, enjoyed, and extend understanding of ending letters.

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Paul Thurlby's Alphabet by Paul Thurlby

Said it before but....I love ABC books....and this may just have topped the list!! This one is - hate to say it as it sounds pretty weak - very creative. Each letter is incorporated into the letter (as seen above). But beyond that, all the text used seems to somehow fit with letter/word choice. At the end of the book Paul Thurlby explains that this book began as individual illustrations and received such publicity thanks to the Internet/bloggers that he decided to create a book.

For more information about this author/illustrator click HERE!

Overall: 5 Buckeye Leaves - LOVE this one....!!! Do you hear me Santa??

A is for Autumn by Robert Maass

I have said before (I think) that I really love ABC books! I saw this books, from afar, at a conference I was at Thursday and Friday. The photographs in this book are pretty amazing. And for the most part, I enjoyed the choices the author made for each letter (A is for autumn and apples; L for leaves; P for pumpkins). However some of them would probably be a stretch for younger kids.

"I is for ice cream, which is delicious in any season."
"N is for neighborhood. It's where we live."

Despite this I will probably share it with my younger students as I feel ABC books reinforce that initial letter recognition so well.

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

An Annoying ABC by Barbara Bottner

It all starts with Adelaide who decided to annoy Bailey. Bailey in turn blamed Clyde. What did Clyde do? He cried. Do you see where this going? One child after another, in alphabetical order, in Miss Mabel's class causes the next bad behavior or annoying act. After the behavior has run its course through the class, or the alphabet as the case may be, Adelaide, who "started it" must....apologize. Of course! Very creatively written, with lots of good examples of alliteration and vocabulary, as long as it does not give any students ideas of bad behavior :)

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 3 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye leaves - the students are headed to class in alphabetical order

Alphabeep: A Zipping, Zooming ABC by Debra Pearson

So this one is a little older (2003) but it was on the shelf next to the new books at one of the libraries I stopped at last night and I knew Adam would love it. He does! But what is there for a boy NOT to love....vehicles from A to Z! Each letter is shown as both upper and lower case, which I love, and has a vehicle of some sort to go with it. The sentence(s) that follow explain the "job" of that vehicle.
"Gg is for Garbage Truck that growls along the road. It's on the prowl for stinky trash to squish, crunch, gr-r-r-r-rind"
This is a great book for learning the letters as well as learning different vehicles on the road.

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:4 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves - AWESOME!!! Some of my favorite of all time....upper and lower case letters, road signs, bright colors, etc

AA is for Aardvark: Double the Letters! Double the Fun! by Mark Shulman

Another ABC book? Not just any ABC book!! This ABC book focuses on DOUBLE letters which adds new fun and new educational experiences for little ones (not to mention the fact I have been looking for double letters ever since I read this book!!)

DD is for puddle.
EE is for beep! beep!
FF is for waffles.
GG is for egg salad.

Of course in addition to the text on each page, the illustrations add another example of the double letter presented on that page! Lots of fun for any age of reader!

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye leaves

Al Pha's Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Al Pha really wants to invent something. Everywhere he turns, someone is coming up with the next great thing: fire, the wheel, etc. One day the king announces that 26 letter, had recently been invented, needed to be arranged in a better manner. Al decided to make a bet with himself to get this arrangement done, while not telling anyone else his plan. And arrange he did, from A to Z, Al is working hard, determined to create the best arrangement. In this very clever book, Rosenthal, one of my favorite authors, creates a creative, humorous look at the alphabet. A great picture book to use with a variety of ages, including adult. Love Rosenthal!!

Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 3 Buckeye Leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye Leaves - very appropriate for theme of the book

If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet by Leslie McGurk

I have never met the creator of this book....but she must be one of the most patient, persistent people ever. According to the author note at the back of the book, this book took more than 10 years to create. The endpages are covered with rocks in letter shapes from A to Z. "A is for addition. B is for bird. C is for couch potato." Each page is illustrated with a picture using rocks in the shape of the item and the letter from rock. Love this book....on my list of "Need to Purchase" at some point.


Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves - LOVE ABC books....this is excellent!
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves

Author/illustrator site has a great video about the book! http://www.lesliemcguirk.com/ifrockscouldsing.html

Q is for Duck by Mary Elting & Michael Folsom

"A is for zoo. Why? Because...Animals live in the zoo. B is for Dog Why? Because a dog barks."

An abc book with a twist or as the long title suggests Q is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game. The book challenges the reader to really think about how the letter could be related to the word. Older kids will enjoy trying to uncover the riddle.

And yes, it is a little "older" but still worth a read.

Text: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray

Warning: This book may leave you wanting a piece of apple pie - just like Georgie!
It all starts with "A apple pie" and from there it is a journey of a wonderful tasting pie created by Grace and longed for by the puppy Georgie - "B bake it; C cool it; D dish it out". Georgie tries again and again, without luck, to get a piece of the yummy pie. "L leave without it; M miserable; N not giving up; O ogle it". Will he finally get to enjoy a pie of the apple pie? Enjoyable different take on ABC book.

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves (different....which I like)
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves (Hints to the story content - love that)

Apple Pis ABC/author site: http://www.applepieabc.com/index.html

ABC Kids by Simon Basher

ABC Kids is an ABC book with an alliteration sentences with each letter. For example: N - Nancy needs new noodles now! and J - Jasper juggle juicy jellyfish! The funny and creative sentences will amuse kids!

Story: 4 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 3 Buckeye leaves.

author website: http://www.basherbooks.com/

A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier

Without too much trouble I could probably recite this book by memory. The three year old here LOVES this book so much that we have actually returned it to the library and had it requested again. The illustrations are fun with great opportunity for letter recognition practice. I love how she has created the different pages using different examples of the same letter.

Story: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5+ Buckeye leaves

When I asked the three year old if this was his favorite book, I was told, "Tied with Hot Rod Hamster!" (Guess I better buy our own copy!!)

Some of My Favorite ABC books....

Living with an almost 3 year old, I am constantly looking for new and FUN ABC books. These are some of my favorites (as well as LMNO Peas that I mentioned in earlier post - see March 17th).

The Zoo I Drew by Todd H. Doodler

ABC book where each letter of the alphabet is a different letter which provides a mix of both fiction and nonfiction information in a fun rhyme.


The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra

A great bedtime story. All the lower case letters are going to bed. Great endpages, filled with letters, are a bonus!!

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by: June Sobel

The same soon to be 3 year old also is on a pirate kick so I am embracing it to find more books to hook him. Each letter that is mentioned in the rhyme on that page is also hidden within the picture

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

Another favorite of mine! Came across this book last year at Barnes and Noble and loved on just based on the title! Of course it is an alphabet book with, you guessed it, PEAS illustrating all the actions described in the book. Simple and funny text allows readers to study the pictures...and we do study those pictures at our house....and find something new every time! This is a definite purchase for our house!


Story: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustration: 5 Buckeye leaves

Astonishing Animal ABC by Charles Fuge

"Cosy cobra curled up in a comfy chair" or "Quite quiet quail" are just some of the animals you will encounter on the journey through this animal ABC book. Children will find the antics of the animals as well as the pictures in this book to be humorous.

Story: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves