An Edward Lear Alphabet - Hardcover

Lear, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060281138 ISBN 13: 9780060281137

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1999

Synopsis

An acrobatic, alphabetic collection of rhymes and wordplay introduces the youngest of children to each letter of the alphabet and is accompanied by energetic artwork by the illustrator of The Maestro Plays.

About this title

Review

An Edward Lear Alphabet was first published in 1871, illustrated with the King of Nonsense's own incongruously matter-of-fact pen-and-ink sketches. Evidently Lear composed this rhyming alphabet for some children he befriended in a hotel, leaving a poem a day on the family's breakfast table. "A was once an apple pie, / Pidy / Widy / Tidy / Pidy / Nice insidy / Apple pie," he begins jauntily. Kids will love repeating the verses out loud--"E was once a little eel, / Eely / Weely / Peely / Eely / Twirly tweely / Little eel"--particularly early readers just learning to sound out words. Vladimir Radunsky's modern, explosively colourful, rather Monty Python-like collages (reminiscent of Yucka Drucka Droni) complement Lear's simple verse remarkably well, considering the century-long-leap in style and attitude. These bold illustrations, many of which conjure a bald, bearded, bespectacled Lear, make the whimsical poet's verse all the more accessible. (Ages 3 to 6) --Karin Snelson

Synopsis

Pictures and nonsense verses introduce the letters of the alphabet.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060281138
• ISBN 13: 9780060281137
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Radunsky Vladimir
• Number of pages: 25