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Summary
Summary
From A is for Anonymouse and I is for Incredibull, to K is for Kangarude and R is for Rocktopus, this ABC book will have readers laughing out loud as they learn the alphabet with animals they may never have seen-or even heard of-before.
Author Notes
Anna Dewdney was born in New York City on December 25, 1965. She received a bachelor's degree in art from Wesleyan University in 1987. Before becoming a full-time author and illustrator, she worked as a waitress, a rural mail carrier, a daycare provider, and taught at a boys' boarding school for many years.
Her children's book career began in 1994 with her artwork for The Peppermint Race by Dian Curtis Regan. She went on to illustrate other children's chapter books in the 1990s. In 2005, the first picture book she both wrote and illustrated, Llama, Llama Red Pajama, was published. Her other books include Nobunny's Perfect, Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too, Little Excavator, and 10 more books in the Llama Llama series. She died after a 15-month battle with brain cancer on September 3, 2016.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Longtime partners Duncan and the late Dewdney introduce make-believe animals with names that integrate wordplay, puns, and double entendres. "You think you know your animals?/ Here's some you've never seen-/ some day you may encounter them/ or see them in a dream," an opening poem reads. Boldt illustrates the puckish animals in scribbly, crayonlike textures that amp up their buffoonery: a red "raindeer" holds a yellow umbrella; a gray "Hippopotamess" sits on a messy floor; and a green "Knocktopus" wears blue boxing gloves on two of his eight arms. The book finds a sweet spot between silly and literal that can be fun to puzzle out; readers may be inspired to create their own bestiary. Ages 4-6. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The late author and her collaborators create, combine, and reimagine a batch of spirited new animals from A to Z.Packed full of invented punny and portmanteau animalgamations such as the "kangarude," a golden marsupial with tongue out and eyes narrowed, cavalierly kicking over the letter K, the book presents a bevy of oddball beasts to accompany each letter. Every critter has its own unorthodox name, look, or point of emphasis in the word, such as the blushing, naked "polar bare" or a "lobster" that lobs an L. Readers will smirk at many of the funny combinations, but the humor is hard-won, as deciphering the clever names and underlying meanings, while supremely satisfying, is also labor-intensive. Those with more sophisticated vocabularies may fully parse the names, but obscure references, such as the "macawbre," a macaw dressed in a Poe-inspired coat, will likely fly right over many readers' heads. Using the letters as props for their antics, wildly peculiar, primitively drawn animals dash across the page, setting a zany tone. The potent primary colors, scribbly, smudgy textures, and lack of outlines constraining the creatures all contribute to the free-wheeling feel. Boldt's images, such as a "hippotomess" surrounded by melted ice-cream and fast food wrappers, give useful clues about how to interpret the animal's name.At points, this book is hilariously funny, but for those who aren't fans of wordplay, this might be a pun-ishing read. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
