{"id":26029,"date":"2015-01-06T00:11:45","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T04:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=26029"},"modified":"2015-01-06T00:11:45","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T04:11:45","slug":"review-of-once-upon-an-alphabet-by-oliver-jeffers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=26029","title":{"rendered":"Review of Once Upon an Alphabet, by Oliver Jeffers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"once_upon_an_alphabet_large\"<\/a>Once Upon an Alphabet<\/p>\n

Short Stories for All the Letters<\/em><\/p>\n

by Oliver Jeffers<\/p>\n

Philomel Books, 2014.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Oliver Jeffers\u2019 books are quirky, offbeat, and, to certain people like me, utterly hilarious.<\/p>\n

This is not a traditional alphabet book. As it says on the first page:<\/p>\n

If words make up stories, and letters make up words, then stories are made of letters. <\/p>\n

In this menagerie we have stories, made of words, made for<\/strong> all the letters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The stories are all very short \u2013 with a title page, a two-page spread, and then a last page, all decorated with Oliver Jeffers\u2019 loopy drawings, done large.<\/p>\n

The stories possess that bizarre logic that makes me laugh. Many are tragic. Many seem pointless. And many show characters from a previous story. Taken together, they\u2019ve got Oliver Jeffers\u2019 unique charm.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll include a couple of stories to give you the idea:<\/p>\n

H<\/p>\n

Half a House<\/p>\n

Helen lived in half a house.
\nThe other half had fallen into
\nthe sea during a hurricane
\na year and a half ago.<\/p>\n

Being lazy, and not owning
\na hammer, she hadn\u2019t quite
\ngot around to fixing it yet.
\nWhich was fine . . .<\/p>\n

. . . until the horrible day she
\nrolled out the wrong side of bed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On this page we see Helen, open-mouthed, falling into the sea.<\/p>\n

Another favorite, for which I\u2019m afraid I can\u2019t even begin to describe the drawings:<\/p>\n

M<\/p>\n

Made of Matter<\/p>\n

Mary is made of matter.
\nSo is her mother.
\nAnd her mother\u2019s moose.<\/p>\n

In fact, matter makes up everything
\nfrom magnets and maps to
\nmountains and mattresses.<\/p>\n

Mary discovered all of this
\nthe marvelous day she got sucked
\nthrough a microscope and
\nbecame the size of a molecule.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a minor miracle that
\nthey all made it back out
\nof the microscope at their
\nnormal size again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A few are done in rhyme:<\/p>\n

R<\/p>\n

Robots Don\u2019t Like Rain Clouds<\/p>\n

Robots don\u2019t like rain clouds
\nSo they steal them from the sky.<\/p>\n

From everywhere and anywhere
\nThat\u2019s why it\u2019s been so dry.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you have been wondering,
\nWhat\u2019s with all this dust?<\/p>\n

Well, robots don\u2019t like getting wet.
\nThey don\u2019t do well with rust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve already decided I want to booktalk this book next summer to the younger elementary school grades. I feel confident that just reading a few of the stories, and showing the large, dramatic pictures, will attract many readers, who will enjoy being in on the joke.<\/p>\n

oliverjeffers.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/once_upon_an_alphabet.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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