Charles Fuge’s Astonishing Animal ABC beginning on the front cover occupied with an enchanted Bear, two ecstatic mice and a joyful, not so, extinct Dodo and on to the back cover enhanced with two overjoyed mice and another not so, extinct, madcap woolly mammoth.
The animal alphabet commences with A, arty aardvark B, bouncing bear
Osage County First Grade views the book I am holding as we sit on the rug in the evening for reading time before getting ready to go home at the end of our enjoyable, eventful day.
We see arty, brush in right hand, pallet in the other, wearing an artist’s smock, his canvas up on the easel displays. Bouncing is bouncing on his trampoline!
I especially appreciate the next page. Now we see C, cozy cobra curled up in a large comfy chair. The illustration is super fun; one big boot, cozy lounging against a pillow in his chair, a steaming mug held in his coil on the left arm of the chair, on the wall is a family picture showing wife, little cozy and dad. In his coils on the right we see cozy’s snuggly teddy bear.
What a marvelous conversation starter!! All around the 2 page spread are words beginning with c, the art work, daisies in a vase, the total is a great take, persuader and all around entertaining look.
Osage County First Grade loves the puerile, ridiculous, senseless and madcap. Each day we have a work activity using alphabet. ABC, alphabet books are chosen very often from out collection housed in a bag labeled A B C as one of the DEAR free reading use books to be used by Little Readers when the assigned reading book work is finished.
Dancing Dodo, straw hat, bow tie, cane with a dodo topper performs a dandy soft shoe across a two page spread.
enormous egg, held tightly by an incensed toothy dinosaur who is glaring at Fat flamingo feeling frightened, on one leg is another really fun page. The class howls with laughter as we view the bemused flamingo standing in a stick nest up on a tree branch. The class knows from our discussion and visits to our nearby zoo that flamingos construct a built-up mud nest on the ground.
Girl gorilla, Hare on ice, Jolly jackal and his joyful jumping mice, share a two page spread.
King Koala grins triumphantly, having just KOed Lion who lies on the floor prone, he is seeing stars.
Mouse at market is asking what do Mammoths cost?
And, the next fully filled page is another page Osage County First Grade giggles and laughs as it comes up; Nasty narwhal grins an evil grin, Outraged owl is being forced at swords’ point off the pier. Pirate penguin wields the sword and is joined by his panther who is on the prowl.
Shhh, quite quiet quail, rhinos roar, snoozy sloth needs sleep why won’t they let him snore?
And on the next two page spread finds tortoise training a unicorn.
On the next page we find a worried walrus peering through the door window as the vet -- Vaughn, a Viking vole checks Vulture’s throat.
And worried walrus appears next with Vaughn, walrus is grasping his x-ray, Vaughn is clutching walrus’ chart, x-ray yak mans the light.
And, in conclusion, turning the page, all the animals are assembled, staring at the zooming …… next page……. Zuzza zozza zizza ZAK
ZAK IS THE BEST YET!!!! Orange hair, big grin, blue fur, What fun!!
Osage County First Grade frequently selects Charles Fuge’s Astonishing Animal ABC as one of our books to read before going home. It is a fun paperback, the class enjoys this volume, and Mrs Martin does too.
This softcover, version fashioned by Scholastic was acquired at our annual school fair. It has survived more than a few years of classroom usage and shows little sign of wear notwithstanding it being carried home habitually for reading at home, being taken to the desk to be used for alphabet work, selected for DEAR reading time, and chosen for reading on the rug before going home.
I am happy to recommend this delightful, well crafted book for classroom usage, for gifting a birthday child and for the classroom library shelf, the school and public library.
NOTE: While I purchased my copy from the school book fair, it is also available on Amazon and other online sites.
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Reviewed by Molly Reviews BOOKS molly martin
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AUTHOR DETAILS FROM THE NOSY CROW SITE :
Charles Fuge was born in 1966 and grew up in Bath. He made his picture book debut in 1988 with Bushvark’s First Day Out, which won both the Macmillan Prize and the Mother Goose Award.
Since then Charles has illustrated over thirty books, a number of which he has also written.
He is the illustrator for A Lullaby for Little One, written by Dawn Casey, and he lives in Dorset.
