Alphabet Explosion! Search and Count from Alien to Zebra - John Nickle
Artistic alphabet search is clever but tricky.
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- Author:John Nickle
- # of pages: 40
- Publisher:Schwartz & Wade
- Original Publication Date: 10/31/2006
- Genre: Non-Fiction - Alphabet
- Hardcover: $16.95
- Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 4-8
- Read Aloud: 4+
- Read Alone: 4+
Parents need to know
Families can talk about finding the answers on each page and how to not get too frustrated if you don't find as many A's or Q's as are suggested by the author. To help young readers, you can talk about the beginning sounds of words and the difference between the name of a letter and its sound. Since kids will have to search for nouns, verbs, and adjectives, you can also discuss the different jobs of those words. For example, after finding the zipper on the Z page, parents might help lead their child to the next Z by asking what the zebra is doing -- "zipping."
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Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by Patricia Tauzer
Is it any good?
More an offbeat alphabet search game than a story, this book will test even the oldest reader. Young kids may be overwhelmed with the challenge of finding 22 "A's" or 45 "S's." They may even find it impossible since words that begin with the letters are not all nouns, which can be hard for younger kids to understand.
Beginning readers may also be confused by the mix of sounds on some pages. For example, words, such as those on the "c" page, may start with the alphabet letter "c" but not the hard sound "k." Beginners may easily find "cat" or "cow" but, unless they can spell, they may have a hard time seeing how "chicken" or "circle" fit.
Artwork carries this book. The brightly colored, playful illustrations created in acrylics and spray paint on watercolor paper are inventive and inviting. The cartoon-like creatures will make kids want to play the game. Clever pictures though may not make up for the obtuseness of some images; it's a little too ingenuous for its own good.
Readers who don't mind taking a couple of days to find the 5th "q" on the "q" page may enjoy this book. So might those who don't mind not discovering all of the hidden items. Thank goodness a list of answers is presented at the back of the book for the rest of us.
Other choices
Other Alphabet Books
A Helpful Alphabet of Friendly Objects: Poems by John Updike
Dr. Seuss' ABC
Animalia by Graeme Base
Parents and kids say



