Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman - review

Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman

Andrew Zuckerman has made an entire little industry out of the images from his big fat Christmas-present book Creature. There are notecards and floor puzzles and a calendar, and now there's an ABC book.

I kind of can't fault the guy for it, either. When I swung open the cover of Creature abc, I gasped. His pictures of animals great and small - details, portraits, and full-length shots - are lit so brightly I worry for their fur, and shot (and printed) at such a high resolution as to appear three-dimensional. I just looked through the portraits (of humans) on his web site, and I didn't actually want to be that close to Nick Nolte.

The big bold black sans-serif text is easy to read. The little fact boxes about each animal that appear at the end are easy to digest. And there is just nothing funner than turning each thick page with a three year old. "What is that animal? It's a LION, you're right! Is that lion gonna eat you? NO! You eat that lion up first!"

Definitely my new favorite present for two- and three-year-olds.

A Isn't for Fox: An Isn't Alphabet, written by Wendy Ulmer and illustrated by Laura Knorr - review

A Isn't for Fox: An Isn't Alphabet, written by Wendy Ulmer and illustrated by Laura Knorr - review

Here's an ABC book with a new angle: each letter gets two rhyming things that it's "not" for... and an animal that it is. This strategy makes the familiar (ants, zebras) feel fresh, and distracts - in a good way - from the awkward (nuthatch, xenops). Laura Knorr's kicky, detailed paintings exude personality and good humor.

G isn't for mugs; it isn't for bugs.
G is for geckos that hide on the rug.

This big fun picture book is perfect to share with a little kid, pointing at the pictures to cue the kid to supply the nouns. The "G" page shows a gecko sitting on a rug drinking from a mug with a bug on it. Between the letter, the repeating framework and the illustrations of each noun, you've got that kid practically reading the whole page. There are very few books that work that way (holla, Ravenous Beast!), and they are to be treasured. Unfortunately, not every page in A Isn't for Fox quite manages the trick:

L isn't for dramas; it isn't for mamas.
L is for llamas in fuzzy pajamas.

This page shows llamas having a pillowfight. Hey, I'm sympathetic: how do you illustrate llamas having dramas with their mamas? And not have it be all Lifetime movie-of-the-week? So this one the kid can't help with.

I really respect Laura Knorr's work here: she works in as many of the rhyming words as she can, and her range is spectacular. Yaks and fairies are rendered with equal skill and charm. It's just a shame that the team that produced this book couldn't support that collaborative reading process on every page.

NASCAR ABCs by Paul DuBois Jacobs, Jennifer Swender, illustrated by Aaron Zenz - review

NASCAR ABCs by Paul DuBois Jacobs, Jennifer Swender, illustrated by Aaron Zenz

Here's one that's been a long time coming. And it's really pretty great. The word choice is good, especially around the problem letters (Q is for Qualify, X is for X-factor, and Z of course is for Zooming); the rhymes are fine; and the collage-y illustrations are bright. There are some minor issues with page layout: the big "F" overlays the hauler instead of the flags, for example, but nothing to prevent a young race fan from carrying this book home and enjoying it.

Bonus for parents who don't actually follow NASCAR: a glossary at the back!

A bold carnivore: An alphabet of predators by Consie Powell - review

A bold carnivore: An alphabet of predators by Consie Powell
Is it a natural history book? An ABC book? Or a showcase for an outstanding nature illustrator to strut her stuff? The brief, atmospheric text on each page had me counting syllables; the rythym and immediacy felt an awful lot like haiku.

Wow.