ABC

From Barnes & Noble

Famous in the art world for photographs of weimaraners, Wegman has expanded his scope to include children's books. In this innovative alphabet book, the dogs are photographed with props to highlight words beginning with each letter. Tongue-in-cheeck captions accompany the witty pictures. Lying together, the dogs also form the shape of the letters and spell out the words. Sophisticated yet silly, this is not just for learning your ABC's!

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The wizard of weimaraners outdoes himself in posing his graceful canines to illustrate A through Z. The four members of a weimaraner squad, positioned on a colorless ground and photographed from above, form the shape of each letter. Below, a caption enlivened by alliteration or other wordplay includes a key word spelled out in the weimaraner-made letters (the copyright page drolly identifies this makeshift ``typeface'' as ``60-point Weimaraner''). Full-page color photos face each letter: for instance, the ``G'' page reads, ``Fay is glamorous in her gorgeous gloves and gown''; opposite, weimaraner Fay Ray is seen decked out in a strapless dress. The captions are clever, but the photographs are no less than superb, demonstrating the range of Wegman's wit and technical excellence. The illustration for Q, for example, shows Fay in a crown and an elaborately trimmed robe ``standing'' upright beside a throne, against a background of deepest ruby. The campy overtones of Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella have vanished, ceding the field to unfettered, non-narrative fun. All ages. (May)

School Library Journal

Gr 2 Up-Wegman's Weimaraners are back, this time in a concept book rather than a fairy tale. Small black-and-white photographs of dogs lying together to approximate the shape of each letter of the alphabet face full-page, full-color photos of one or more dogs posing to illustrate a concept starting with the corresponding letter. As an alphabet book for youngsters, this title is almost useless. There are no clear representations of the letters to develop visual identification. The photographs are unnerving, particularly the shared tongue kiss and the eerie ``rooster,'' a dog entirely encased in a long red sack. Questions about the treatment of the dogs seem almost inevitable from children who own or long for pets. Perhaps the unusual photographs hold some appeal for adult aficionados, but collections for children should be stocked with the multitude of better alphabet books.- Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN