'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Saturday 28 November 2020

Review: An Artist's Alphabet

An Artist's Alphabet is an imaginative and whimsical book.

It takes a particular way of looking at the world to see the letters of the alphabet in the world around us.

Norman Messenger takes that to the next level with his illustrations.

A cat curled up in a ball, with its tail held high, becomes a lowercase letter d. 

A much larger and rounder cat whose tail is held close to its body, becomes the uppercase D.

A carefully placed chain and a string of pearls, depict the letter s; while the long ears of a rabbit form a v. 

And an acrobat with legs akimbo standing on the back of a horse forms the uppercase letter a.

There are no words in this book. It's artistic and could be used when talking with young children about language and letters, or as a kind of puzzle for older readers.

How many alternative letter designs can you or your children come up with?

Grab a copy of An Artist's Alphabet to tempt children into language activities, try their hand at their own art and design, or simply marvel at the beauty of the pictures.

Title: An Artist's Alphabet
Author/Illustrator: Norman Messenger
Publisher: Walker Books, $17.99
Publication Date: March 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781406392784
For ages: 5+
Type: Picture book