Welcome to to A Field Trip Life and the final day of the A to Z April Blog Challenge. I have been spending the month reading and sharing alphabet books and Ta da! – we have arrived at the letter Z. There are no shortage of alphabet books that feature the ultimate letter. First, let me share my favorite:
The Z Was Zapped: A Play in Twenty-Six Acts
By Chris Van Allsburg
HMH Books for Young Readers 1987
56-page ABC Picture Book
grades preschool – 3
This ingenious alphabet book is set on stage and as the audience we see each letter meeting their demise in some sort of incident beginning with “The A was in an Avalanche.” With alliteration and Van Allsburg’s detailed pencil drawings, each letter experiences a surprising mishap. This book is one that can be studied for hours as letters are bitten, cut, evaporated, nailed, and uprooted. The publisher suggests book for young elementary students but I know it fascinates older students as they think about letters and discover creative uses of alliteration.
The D was nearly Drowned.
The F was firmly Flattened.
Z seems to be a popular letter to use in titles for alphabet books so here are a few for you to consider:
Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet
by Gianna Marino
Chronicle Books 2005
32-page wordless picture alphabet book
Z Goes Home
by John Agee (author and illustrator)
Hyperian 2003
32-page alphabet book for preschool – grade 2
Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet
by Matt Napier (author) and Melanie Rose (illustrator)
Sleeping Bear Press
40-page nonfiction alphabet book
preschool – grade 3
Z is for Zeus: A Greek Mythology Alphabet
by Helen L. Wilbur (author) and Victor Juhasz (illustrator)
Sleeping Bear Press 2008
40 page alphabet book
Grades 1 -4
Alison’s Zinnia
by Anita Lobel (author and illustrator)
Greenwillow Books 1996
Grades preschool – grade 3
Z is for Zombie
by Merrily Kutner (author) and John Manders (illustrator)
Albert Whitman 1999
32-page alphabet book
Grades 1-4
Z is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet
by Mari Smith and Roland Smith (authors) and Henry Cole (illustrator)
Sleeping Bear Press 2005
40-page nonfiction alphabet book
Grades 1-4
Well, that’s enough for now- we certainly know our ABC’s!
Fabulous posts about all the ABC books available! Thanks for gathering them all together and sharing them with all of us!!! And, congrats on PW recognizing your work too!
Thanks for stopping by Joan! This has been an interesting study for me on alphabet books. Now I know that I’m not going to attempt to write one unless I can come up with a really clever, creative, and unique idea.
Congratulations on reaching Z! You may be right that pretty much any idea for an alphabet book has already been done. Still, I just can’t resist. I’ve already done one of animals, and am working on one now on mythical creatures. It’s just such a fun, satisfying way to organize information… which is part of the appeal of the whole A-Z Challenge, isn’t it?
Black and White: Z is for Ziz
Chris Van Allsburg has always intrigued me. What a great book!
As always your AtoZ Blog Challenge entries are so good.
I have enjoyed each day.
I know it was difficult to stay with it this year, but we are so glad you did!
I just saw your comment in the Challenge last post, and came to visit. Fun theme, I will come back 😉