Children - Learning Basic Concepts, Children - Animals, Children - Fiction & Literature

Alphabeasties: And Other Amazing Types

Name: Alphabeasties: And Other Amazing Types
Author: Sharon Werner
ISBN: 9781934706787

by Sharon Werner, Sarah Forss

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Overview

Blocky or small. Thick or tall.
Roundish, slope-y, fancy or dopey.
Letters look different in all different places.
That's because they have different typefaces.

From an alligator made of aaa's to a zebra made of zzz's, the alphabeasties in this book are ingeniously built out of multiple typefaces. Adults and children will be engaged and delighted with the flaps, which lift to reveal "beasties" for each letter of the alphabet.

2009 Parents' Choice Silver Honor winner

Synopsis

The award-winning design team of the innovative book Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types has created 26 eye-catching alphabet flash cards. Each card features an animal ingeniously built from the first letter of its name. Different typefaces comprise each of the beasties, making for a wondrous and witty way to look at and learn the ABCs. These cards fit easily into a backpack and provide easy entertainment for kids. The attractive stamped-fabric case and tray also make this an attractive object for a coffee table or office.

Flip each of the cards over to build two super-size, colorful puzzles!

Publishers Weekly

No ordinary abecedarian, this typographical trip will wow design fans and suggest creative projects with letterforms. The book's introduction speaks affectionately of typefaces—“just like people, they look different and have different personalities”—before embarking on a thrilling spin through the alphabet. The first spread presents an alligator's silhouette, made up of capital and lowercase As, as the repeated word “algae” forms green strands around it. A bat shaped from gothic Bs holds vampire connotations; tall, skinny Gs evoke the height of a giraffe that hides behind leafy, vertical folds; and breathless italic Rs make a rabbit seem poised to leap. Werner and Forss, a debuting team of graphic designers, devote page borders to extra wordplay: a C becomes the curved back and tail of a cat, a K's extended foot kicks a soccer ball, a cursive L is a lasso and rounded Ps nestle in a pod. Innovations arrive several to a page, rewarding repeat visits and encouraging readers to muse on the power of type and all that letters and words can imply or insinuate. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

About the Author, Sharon Werner

Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss are graphic designers at the two-person design studio Werner Design Werks in St. Paul, Minnesota, which has garnered many graphic design awards, as well as a place in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, Musee De La Poste, Victoria and Albert Museum, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum. You can visit them online at www.wdw.com.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4—The introduction to this book is a little clunky; it's rather wordy and difficult to read with black letters in a small font against a dark gray background. Things become more interesting once that page is turned. An alphabet of animals is presented, each one cleverly composed of its initial letter in a typeface that often suits the characteristics of that creature—a spiky alligator, shaggy sheep, etc. Fold-out pages allow for the impressive height of the giraffe or the length of the alligator to be revealed. Small boxes on the bottom and sides of the pages show how using a different typeface for a particular letter render it suitable for a different purpose—a loopy "l" for lasso as opposed to some that lean or bend slightly for laziness. There is a lot to examine here, and readers should return repeatedly to do just that. Suggestions follow for children to try inventing their own typefaces, and to investigate the Web site for the Type Directors Club. Young readers will enjoy the animals while older children will have a greater appreciation for the book's artistry.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Kirkus Reviews

Two graphic designers show their typographical chops with an alphabetically arranged menagerie of easily recognizable animal silhouettes entirely constructed from blizzards of single letters. Artfully placed flaps and folds add fine visual surprises-an Alligator that suddenly yawns, a rearing Unicorn, a Giraffe that s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s unexpectedly up and down. Without sacrificing an overall visual unity the authors also vary their page and spread layouts in lively ways, creating background details not with drawn lines but fluent lines of words and adding alliterative side galleries of additional figures or single letters in various styles ("This U undulates and has an upturned tail"). It's all intended to promote awareness of typeface and letter design, for a younger audience than might be drawn to Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich's Bembo's Zoo (2000) or Cathryn Falwell's Letter Jesters (1994). Pre-readers will gather too, if just to take pleasure from decoding the animal shapes. (Picture book. 3 & up)