Common Sense Media Review
By Patricia Tauzer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Abstract art + alphabetic alliteration = amazing ABC book.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
From A to Z, each page presents an imaginative and original work of abstract art, either a sculpture, painting, and collage, as well as a list of witty, and sometimes challenging, alliterative words to demonstrate the sound.
Is It Any Good?
If you're looking for a simple ABC book for a young reader, this may not be the right choice for you. But, if you want something original and different, a more sophisticated, avant-garde ABC book with amazing artwork, clever text, and language that will sweeten even a wordsmith's vocabulary, look no further. A IS FOR ART delivers what it promises: an abstract look at the alphabet, and it's for everyone.
Award winning author-illustrator Stephen T. Johnson is on an artistic quest. Of course, he wants kids to know the alphabet and learn to love language but, more important, he wants them to think about and question art. As he says in his notes, his "literal abstractions" are an attempt to transform ideas into the visual, and to inspire the imaginations of all his readers to do the same.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how each illustration is a piece of art, and each list of words is poetic and playful. What do you like about each painting, collage, or sculpture? What does it say about the letter it represents?
Can you find each letter in the artwork? What about the words? How do they sound alike, and what do they mean?
How do you think the author-illustrator got the idea to make this book? How is this different from any other alphabet book you have read? How is it the same?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Stephen T. Johnson
- Genre : Alphabet
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster
- Publication date : September 9, 2009
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 5 - 7
- Number of pages : 40
- Last updated : July 13, 2017
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