Once Upon an O

Once upon a time are magical words that beckon you into a story. For today’s A to Z Blog Challenge post featuring the letter O, we are entering stories through the framework of the alphabet.

 

 

Once Upon the Alphabet: Short Stories for all the Letters
by Oliver Jeffers (author and illustrator)
Philomel Books 2014
112 pages

 

 

Short story fans will love meeting each character in these twenty-six stories. There is Edmund the astronaut who is afraid of heights, the cup who wanted to move to the windowsill, the King of France who went out to dance and forgot to bring along keys, and Jack Stack the Lumberjack who has been struck by lightning one hundred and eleven times in his life so far. The ink drawings with highlighted with watercolor seem simple at first yet they add complex details to each story. The stories may be short but they are completely satisfying filled with danger, humor, irony, and drama. This is not an alphabet book for little ones learning the alphabet though they will enjoy the stories. Rather this is a book that will be read and re-read by older children and alphabet loving adults. I encourage you to head to the bookstore of library and get this one.

 

 

 

Each story’s conclusion is told with the turn of a page.

 

 

 

Fortunately, Edmund finds a great solution to his problem at the end of the book.

 

 

 

Here is an interesting NPR interview with Oliver Jeffers about creating Once Upon an Alphabet.

I do have a suggestion for young alphabet learners like my grandson Thomas who is learning the letter O.

Oh, Baby! The A to Z
Kane Miller 2013
32 page picture book

This is a collection of the cutest animal babies ever. Arranged alphabetically, readers can ooh and ahh over photographs of baby anteaters, bears, and chickens. My only complaint is that I think they should have mentioned the baby names of each animal.