A Helpful Alphabet of Friendly Objects Paperback - 1998

From the publisher

*"In addition to illustrious name of Updike, this extraordinary alphabet book offers numerous rewards poems that are by turns thoughtful and lively; crisp photographs that seem both familiar and new; and a book design so fresh and appealing as to ensure repeat readings. Each poem and photograph describes ordinary things apple, cat, eggs, shoes and socks in language and images playfully accesible to preschoolers. 'At evening / when the grass is dewy, ' reads the poem for 'R, ' 'out hops the rabbit / feeling chewy.' For the letter H, a photo shows a boy crouched beside a gleaming chrome hubcap in which his image is reflected 'stretched sideways like gum.' Clever design elements begin with bright endpapers that repeat the interior photographs and letters; within, the typeface in 'D' changes with each word comparing dogs and cats (a dog is 'jumpier, ' its tail is 'thumpier, ' etc.) in a kind of visual onomatopoeia; the words of the K-is-for-knot poem loop and meander to mimic 'the thing that happens to string'; the photos appear in ovals and circles as well as standard squares and rectangles. This book is an introduction not only to letters but to looking at people and objects 'as if you were / inside them for a ride.'"