Alphabet Under Construction

by Denise Fleming, Denise Fleming (Illustrator)

Overview

An artist's approach to introducing the alphabet

Mouse airbrushes the A,

buttons the B,

carves the C . . .

Mouse is hard at work constructing each letter of the alphabet. He dyes the D, erases the E, and folds the F. Mouse works his way right through to Z, constructing an alphabet that surpasses even the wildest artistic imagination.

A bright, beautiful concept book from best selling picture book Denise Fleming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805081121
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	07/25/2006
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	103,523
Product dimensions:	9.05(w) x 10.95(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Denise Fleming won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. She is the author and illustrator of more than a dozen picture books, including Buster. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

Denise Fleming won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. She is the author and illustrator of more than a dozen picture books, including Buster. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Building an alphabet is hard work, but one little mouse does it with panache in this peppy picture book (which includes a free poster) by the author of Lunch and Barnyard Banter.

From A to Z, Mouse jovially puts some muscle behind his artful creations after demarcating his workspace with yellow construction tape. Readers get to watch him airbrush an A, level the L, and measure the M, but Mouse's letters go beyond hammers and nails as he prunes a leafy P, "quilts the Q," and "x-rays the X." Of course, all this building can tucker a guy out, and he relaxes happily at the end with his Work Schedule crossed out and a happy "Hurray!!" written in.

Through stunning multicolored pulp paintings -- made by "pouring colored cotton fiber through hand-cut stencils" -- Fleming's ambitious builder will give any alphabet learner a big smile. Readers will anxiously turn the pages to see how the next letter will appear, and they'll learn challenging construction words in the meantime. Warm and spirited, this alphabet book is ideal for happy learning. Matt Warner

bn.com

Mouse, the rambunctious rodent first seen in Fleming's Lunch, returns in this concept-book salute to hands-on creativity, fashioning letters A to Z by means of various arts and crafts. Ages 2-5. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-K-One very active mouse constructs an alphabet with 26 sturdy verbs. Several of them may be unfamiliar to the preschool set-airbrush, dye, judge, level, quilt, tile, weld, or X-ray-but the art, combined with a helpful adult, should make the meanings clear. The vibrant illustrations "were created by pouring colored cotton fiber through hand-cut stencils" and have appealing texture and intense color. Though the text is limited to verb/letter ("folds the F, glues the G," etc.), the art (A and Z have spreads) is the strength of this offering. Mouse, who first appeared in Fleming's Lunch (Holt, 1995), is an enthusiastic builder though a bit untidy. Novice students of the alphabet may be enticed into constructing their own alphabets and/or gathering their own set of verbs. A worthy addition to the sea of ABC books.-Jody McCoy, The Bush School, Seattle, WA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

The little mouse from Fleming's Lunch (1992) literally and alliteratively works his way through the alphabet. The emphasis is on process; rather than introducing appropriate objects for each letter of the alphabet, this cheery offering presents verbs: "Mouse airbrushes the A, / buttons the B, / carves the C, . . . " With the exception of A and Z, which occupy double-page spreads, each letter takes up one page, the happily industrious mouse leveling, measuring, and nailing his way along. Fleming's trademark pulp paintings glow, the brightly colored letters standing out against equally bright and uncluttered backgrounds. The text presents the letters subtly and effectively, making it a good bridge between the very beginning alphabet books and more sophisticated offerings. Most of the lettering is done in an uneven serif font reminiscent of typescript, but the letter being worked on appears in a clean sans-serif font, the lower-case exemplar at the beginning of its appropriate verb and the upper-case as the object. The cleanness of the sans-serif font nicely complements the in-process messiness of the illustrated letters. If some of the verbs stretch the concept (Mouse "judges the J" and, inevitably, "x-rays the X"), others are just plain inspired, as Mouse prunes the topiary P and then vacuums a purple V pattern on a very dirty rug. Here's an alphabet book that's certainly worth making room for. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

Fleming offers an engaging conceit executed in a marvelous medium.” —Booklist, starred review

“Here's an alphabet book that's certainly worth waiting for.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher