Alphababies

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This abecedary confection, Golding's debut, combines photos of multiracial toddlers with highly stylized, computer-generated costumes, letters and settings. To illustrate the letter V, for example, a toddler's face is collaged atop a snappy tuxedo-and-tails ensemble, and he seems to wave a maestro's baton at a row of stick-figure violinists. The wee mermaid perched on a bubbly letter M sports a sleek, iridescent tail and luxuriously synthesized carrot-colored tresses topped with a crown. Some of the letters are cleverly costumed as well: the letter X, which here represents that old alphabet standby, the X-ray, is wallpapered in a motif of bones. The rhyming text doesn't sing with originality, but it is succinct and sufficiently catchy, with each rhyme completed across a single spread: "I is an igloo made from ice blocks/ J is for Jack who lives in a box." In a few compositions, the blending of child and computer art is awkward (especially where some of a child's limbs look photographed and others look computer-generated) and not all the letters are evenly integrated into the vignettes. The palette, too, runs to techno-colors, heightening the otherworldly, even eerie effect. But for the most part the conceit works, offering plenty of appeal to the dress-up instincts of the very young. Ages 2-5. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Tina Hudak

This alphabet book cannot help but elicit a smile from readers, as cherubic faces beam from every page. Moving from A to Z, each letter is paired with a word within the illustration and a short rhyming phrase that describes it. The overall design follows a traditional format. Horizontally framed illustrations dominate the pages, with the captions aligned beneath, and all text is printed in a clear, black typeface. With a large letter as the focus, computer images and photographs of children's faces are incorporated into the collages. The skilled use of positive and negative space combined with primary colors offer an attractive invitation into the world of the alphabet. This is a great read-aloud book and one that kids will pull off the shelf again and again.

Kirkus Reviews

A fresh look at the alphabet: Golding combines photographed baby heads and pudgy arms and legs with computer-generated costumes and virtual settings. Every page has a large letter with the featured word below it situated against a colorful and surreal backdrop of computer images. Inserted into this is a picture of a child engaged in a related activity or pose. Beneath every illustration is a bouncy rhyme using the particular letter and word: "C is a castle I built near the sea/D is a duck, a sailor like me." Golding's rhymes focus on common objects, effectively creating a balance to the imaginatively conceived illustrations; their execution, however, can be static, and when the proportions of the babies' bodies are off, the results are disconcerting, at least to adults. Most children won't notice, and will relish the jack-in-the-box, haughty queen, or exuberant band leader conducting an orchestra of violins. (Picture book. 4-8)