Welcome to Day 16 of the 2019 A to Z Blog Challenge where posts follow the alphabet. I’m sharing ABC picture books this year and today I’m featuring the letter P.
Are you a dog owner? If so, has your dog eaten things they shouldn’t If so, you’ll appreciate
What Pete Ate from A – Z (really!)
by Maira Kalman (author and illustrator)
Puffin Books 2003
Pete is a really good dog except he likes to eat almost anything! He begins by eating an entire accordion and proceeds to eat his way through the alphabet. The characters, illustrations, and story are quite quirky but loads of fun.
I don’t envy their vet bills!
Now, onto another unusual ABC book-
Why are so many English words difficult to pronounce and spell? Who put in the silent letters? No wonder kids get confused when learning to read and write. This alphabet book is the ultimate example of crazy English.
P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Ever
by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter (authors) and Maria Beddia (illustrator)
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky 2018
Subtitled “All the letters that misbehave and make words nearly impossible to pronounce” pretty much sums up this book. Why is A for Aisle? And what’s up with words like phone and photo – why don’t they start with and F? These and other confusing words are used in sentences accompanied by whimsical drawings. Get ready to laugh and wonder.
Here’s a link to an article about the creation of the “worst alphabet ever” which is probably one of the best alphabet books ever.
Are there any words that you find difficult to spell or pronounce?
Red says
I love the idea of that 2nd alphabet book! My husband teaches English to Chinese children. They never even get to those kinds of words.
Found you through AtoZ.
Doesn’t Speak Klingon
Claire Annette Noland says
This would be a great book to share with English learners!
Rowena says
Wow! What Pete ate is right up our alley.We’re a dog family and currently have three dogs, including 2 year old pups who have eaten their fair share of contraband. However, we used to have this crazy Old English Sheepdog, Rufus. We got him from the shelter and he was scrawny with eczema but we felt once he recovered, he’d be a great dog. Well, unfortunately, Rufus’s issues were quite deep seated and were to be honest beyond us at the time. He used to steal food off the kitchen bench and swallow it plastic bag and all. The hardest thing was that he was terrified of storms and would run around non stop in frantic circles frothing at the mouth. He had the biggest loving brown eyes but was rather mixed up. We believe he was abused badly before he came. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t the best as we had a young baby and toddler.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Claire Annette Noland says
What a story! We got a labrador retriever from the pound and had similar experiences. He went crazy during storms. We loved him even though he caused a lot of trouble.
PammyPam says
Those look like such great books!
Claire Annette Noland says
Hi Pam! How are you?? I can’t believe I’m doing this a-z again especially since I’m traveling so much. One of my daughters and her family moved to Nicaragua so that’s where I’m spending lots of time.