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Children's Fiction Alphabet

Alphabetter

by (author) Dan Bar-el

illustrated by Graham Ross

Publisher
Orca Book Publishers
Initial publish date
Sep 2013
Category
Alphabet, Humorous Stories, Friendship
Recommended Age
3 to 5
Recommended Grade
p to k
Recommended Reading age
3 to 5
  • Downloadable audio file

    ISBN
    9781459817470
    Publish Date
    Sep 2017
    List Price
    $4.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554693276
    Publish Date
    Sep 2013
    List Price
    $24.99

Classroom Resources

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Description

Did you ever try to use an egg in place of a football? 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...

About the authors

 

Dan Bar-el est un auteur à succès, un pédagogue et un conteur qui a publié des romans, des albums illustrés et des bandes dessinées. Depuis vingt et un ans, il travaille avec des enfants de trois à treize ans en tant que prestataire de services de garde et donne des cours de théâtre et d'écriture. Dan habite à Vancouver.

 

Dan Bar-el believes that the highest compliment a preschool child can pay is to call one silly. He carries the label with honor. "Preschool children have no patience for 'jokes,'" he says. "Ask one to tell you a knock-knock joke and, painfully, you'll see my point. But nothing gets a giggle like the absurd. Nothing is funnier than turning the rules on their heads." And that is exactly what Dan has done in his new book, in which each of twenty-six children is named for a child he has taught. The author of Things are Looking Up, Jack and Things are Looking Grimm, fill, Dan lives, writes and teac

Dan Bar-el's profile page

Look! Look what I've done!! The words of an eight year old as he holds up the drawing of a vibrant red fire engine. Oh Graham, that's wonderful.

Really? Oh this is good. You draw a picture and you get a reaction. I could get into this! And so it began. The seed was planted, further watered by bedtime rituals of propping pillows up against his bedroom wall getting into bed to get lost in a family member's reading of The Wind in the Willows.

An unintended lesson learned through those readings that our intrepid illustrator still calls upon in his illustration work is that the viewer will take different things from the illustration and he will add elements to the illustration that may go over some heads, but others will catch them and smile. There's always something to look at.

A graduate of the illustration program at Sheridan College in Ontario, Graham thought he would stick around the big smoke and in addition to his work as a designer at Canadian publisher McClelland & Stewart, he would also cultivate his Flock of Seagulls hair style and work on his dance floor moves. But alas soon follicles started to recede and shoulder pads deflated, so Graham moved back to his hometown of Ottawa, Ontario to contemplate his next career move.

It was in Ottawa that Graham began his freelance illustration and graphic design career. A career that has spawned illustrations for such publishers as Orca Book Publishers, Scholastic Canada, and Meadowside Books of the United Kingdom, as well as numerous Canadian government agencies and private design firms.

He lives in Merrickville, Ontario with a circus star family: his juggling wife, a helldriver daughter, a canine cannonball, and a fire breathing cat.

Graham Ross' profile page

Excerpt: Alphabetter (by (author) Dan Bar-el; illustrated by Graham Ross)

Alberto had an alligator, but he didn't have a bathing suit.

Editorial Reviews

"It is cleverness writ and painted large, and it's delivered with an infectious exuberance and cadence that manifests itself not just in the playful text, but also in illustrator Ross's quirky, kinetic characters."

The Globe and Mail

"Indeed one of the better alphabet books. Highly recommended."

CM Magazine

"Appropriate for early elementary students who enjoy funny stories and look-and-find books."

Book Notes

"An original alphabet book that is filled with fun preschool humour. Ross's illustrations capture the whimsical fun nature of the book and will have youngsters laughing out loud."

BC Parent Magazine

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