- Hardcover: 60 pages
- Publisher: Groundwood Books (Aug 1 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0888999283
- ISBN-13: 978-0888999283
- Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 25.8 x 1.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 431 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #526,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Quill & Quire
You’d think an alphabet book would be the easiest thing in the world to put together. After all, the main feature of the book, not to mention the running order, is already pretty much set. Twenty-six letters, some nifty images, and you’re off. And since the target audience keeps changing, and the aim is essentially educational, coming up with a novel approach is not all that important. And yet, some alphabet books miss the mark, either because of dull artwork, uninspired examples (there’s life left in “A is for Apple,” but not a lot), or concepts that are simply too clever for their own good. Torontonians Joanne Schwartz and Matt Beam avoid almost all of those potential pitfalls in City Alphabet, an ABC book that is clever, fresh, and fun to read. The basic concept is simple: each letter is demonstrated by a word found somewhere in the urban environment. Since kids learning their letters often engage in “word collecting” – i.e., spotting words they know as they walk around town – it’s a set-up that little ones will take to instantly, and will encourage even more enthusiastic hunting and gathering. Graffiti is the most frequent source for the text, though store signs, decals, and dilapidated posters are respresented as well. The images are all taken from great-looking photographs by Beam, a teacher and YA author. The text merely repeats the word in the image, and offers a terse, gallery-style rundown of the materials and location. (“Hair,” for example, is “Hand-painted on glass. Barbershop window.”) Most of the alphabetic words are easy enough for kids, while remaining slightly counterintuitive. (“Brute” and “vice” are fun ones to learn, though “evoke” is maybe pushing it, as far as abstractions go.) The author and photographer’s afterwords are a little too arty and eggheaded for kids, but they do fit with the book’s overall feel. Plus, kids can just skip those.
Review
...[The photographs in City Alphabet are] meditations on the idea that, in the city, words are everywhere, the opening salvos in ongoing conversations...Stark, metallic and urban, these images may encourage children to think about alternate ways of seeing their surroundings (Publishers Weekly 20090801)
Here future urban enthusiasts can discover how words exist in the spaces around them, what words can do in 26 different fonts...The book is, first and foremost, a pictorial work about Toronto that will appeal to anyone who loves this city in lots of little ways. (Jacqueline Whyte Appleby Spacing Magazine 20090912)
...sophisticated...[City Alphabet is] an intriguing, eclectic selection that may encourage young people to notice the printed words that appear in unexpected urban places... (Booklist 20090601)
...sophisticated...Beam's photographs will be appreciated for their found art quality, and Schwartz's words for their originality... (Globe and Mail 20090801)
...artfully constructed...fascinating...It will certainly have readers seeing their own cities with new eyes. (Kirkus Reviews )
Most inspiring [about this book] is the potential for youngsters to use this urban alphabet as motivation to go out and find words where they live, discuss their purpose, and hear their own city speaking to them. (School Library Journal )
Here future urban enthusiasts can discover how words exist in the spaces around them, what words can do in 26 different fonts...The book is, first and foremost, a pictorial work about Toronto that will appeal to anyone who loves this city in lots of little ways. (Jacqueline Whyte Appleby Spacing Magazine 20090912)
...sophisticated...[City Alphabet is] an intriguing, eclectic selection that may encourage young people to notice the printed words that appear in unexpected urban places... (Booklist 20090601)
...sophisticated...Beam's photographs will be appreciated for their found art quality, and Schwartz's words for their originality... (Globe and Mail 20090801)
...artfully constructed...fascinating...It will certainly have readers seeing their own cities with new eyes. (Kirkus Reviews )
Most inspiring [about this book] is the potential for youngsters to use this urban alphabet as motivation to go out and find words where they live, discuss their purpose, and hear their own city speaking to them. (School Library Journal )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
More than Urban Text, Dec 16 2009
By L.K.Mackin "Tumbling Leaf Press - Smart Books... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: City Alphabet (Hardcover)
At first I wasn't so sure about this one. How hard is it to take a picture of a word in an urban setting? Words are everywhere, after all.But by the time I got to E for Evoke, I was hooked. The photos manage to convey esoteric ideas like transience and permanence, art and decay, bureaucracy and beauty. On the F page, the word `Forever' etched in concrete is at once both permanent and delicate.
Very nice.
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