Reviews & Endorsements
The Midwest Book Review
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Abadaba Alphabet: Learning Letter Sounds by author and Montessori teacher Sheila Moore is charmingly illustrated by Carol Holsinger and enhanced with the inclusion of an accompanying eleven minute CD ably narrated by master storyteller Jim Weiss. While traditional alphabet books for children teach them the names of the letters, they do not usually teach them about the different sounds associated with those letters or letter combinations. What Moore has done with Abadaba Alphabet is to change all that by turning traditional phonemic learning with its misplaced emphasis on letter names into a thoroughly ‘kid friendly' picturebook approach to children learning letter sounds as a basic precondition toward acquiring fundamental literacy skills. Abadaba Alphabet is firmly based on sound academic practices that incorporate clever rhymes and nonsense verbal images to provide preschool and kindergarten children with a strong foundation in letter-sound relationships. As entertaining as it is educational, Abadaba Alphabet is especially recommended for preschool and elementary school library collections, and is ideal for homeschooling parents as a basic literacy curriculum supplement for children ages 4 through 6.
Bookviews (Web Site)
by Alan Caruba
I sometimes think that, if I see another book devoted to teaching tots the alphabet, I will run screaming from the room. That said, Sheila Moore makes the very good point that it isn't just the names of the letters of the alphabet that matter, but learning the sounds that they make. She has made this easy and fun in Abadaba Alphabet and a lot of credit must be shared by Carol Holsinger whose pictures are very amusing. The author has taught in both Montessori and public school kindergarten classrooms, has written about education in Parents Magazine, The Washington Post, and other publications. She has other books to her credit, but this one, which comes with a CD to enhance the learning experience, reveals her mastery of teaching this most essential knowledge. Every parent who wants to give their child a head start or has a child who might be struggling with their reading skills will want this book.
Sabrina Crow (Amazon.com)
This is wonderful -- words, illustrations and all. I haven't seen another book like this one -- it hits spot-on -- my friends' kids love it. It's making an impact already -- the combination of unique words and super interesting drawings. It's definitely a hit! The CD is great, too, but the words and illustrations in the book really make this worth having for your child. I wouldn't be surprised to see this book win a number of awards in the children's book world -- it's just so unique, whimsical and fun!
William E. Roach (Amazon.com)
Sheila Moore, the author, and Carol Holsinger, the illustrator, have collaborated in Abadaba Alphabet and created the perfect prequel to No Child Left Behind. There should be no children left at the starting gate with this early reading book. Ms. Moore's imaginative alliteration in the lines, "cupcakes, crickets, cockatoos, cows in cantaloupe canoes," for the letter C, certainly surpasses Dr. Seuss' "Aunt Annie's alligator" for the letter A. Carol Holsinger's illustrations are detailed delights as you actually get to picture heifers, safely attired in life jackets, paddling melon canoes down the stream. This book should become a children's classic.
iParenting Media Awards' Reviewer
What a wonderful book and CD package! You could even target younger children - it is never too young to start teaching them their alphabet sounds!
Sincerely Anna (Web Site)
This WFMW post really excites me and I can't wait to tell you about this book I found! I'm a newby mom to this whole teaching your kids how to read thing. My 4 ½ year-old son is super-active, but will gladly sit still for a good book (thank you, God, for that!) And has shown interest in reading, but clearly we're not ready yet for a sit-down-and-let's-teach-you-how-to-read-in-100-easy-lessons thing. But he is getting there little by little and when I saw this book I got so excited! I knew it would be perfect for him.
Abadaba Alphabet by Sheila Moore is great for pre-readers to learn letter sounds. When I saw it at a book fair recently (sold by the author herself who was soooo nice) I was immediately drawn to it because the illustrations are so great and full of silly humor -- she knows her audience! The book takes a Montessori approach of only using letter sounds instead of the name of the letter. It is really fun to read and even comes with a CD and I love the reader's voice. Max followed along easily by himself, too. Thanks to great books like Dr. Seuss' ABCs and the whole line of Leap Frog stuff, Max had a good start anyway, but this book definitely has built on those to give him a boost for early reading. In only the past couple weeks he has identified a lot more lower-case letters when we're out and about and we're having fun with this gradual kind of learning how to read.
So, that's my tip for this week. Go check out the book, it's available on Abadaba Alphabet's web site (abadabaalphabet.com) and on Amazon.
Carol Blount (Amazon.com)
My preschool age grandchildren love this book. When they come for a visit they look forward to reading books with Grandma. This is one of their favorites. The rhyming makes it a lot of fun for them and they enjoy repeating the word and letter sounds from the CD. The illustrations are magical and go a long way toward making this book a delight to read. Every time we look at the book we find something new on the pages that we didn't see before. It's very reminiscent of the Dr. Seuss books that I used to read to their parents. I think a lot of little children are going to grow up with fond memories of the Abadaba Alphabet book.
KentMom (on Web Sites and Amazon.com)
In general I'm not very enthusiastic about rhyming alphabet books, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The illustrations also go a lonnnng way in raising this book above the pile of ordinary ones, as they're whimsical but realistically rendered, and give more meaning to the text, which, because it's a rhyming alphabet book (did I mention my bias?) doesn't really tell a story. (Frankly, I would like to see the "vultures viewing videos" crane a bit more over the TV screen, but the yaks' "yummy hats" really do look good enough to eat.)
The included CD is nice, but more of a lesson than a game, so my three-year-old prefers the book to the CD. (I bet it would be a different story if it were a computer game!) While I think early preschool-age kids can enjoy this book, my guess is that older kids (four- and five-year-olds) will get more out of this than three-year-olds.
One thing I really like about the book is that the author includes tips for parents/teachers on the bottom right corner of each page, encouraging them to "say the W in w-agon" and "say the Z in z-oo." A great help to get ready for kindergarten!
Beckie Weinheimer (Amazon.com)
My nephew, age three, loves this book. We sat and turned the pages while listening to Jim Weiss read to us on the CD that comes with the book. My nephew started imitating the sounds right away and stayed with the story for almost the entire book, which is far longer than he stays with ordinary picture books. After the CD was finished he wanted to turn the pages himself and would point to each animal and make its particular sound. The rhyming, the illustrations and the CD are wonderful and especially entertaining for the wiggly little preschooler. I plan to buy this for all my little friends!
iParenting Media Awards' Reviewer
The positive characteristics of this book were that it was teaching my child the alphabet as well as the sounds each letter makes in a fun and captivating way. She really liked it because her teacher also uses it in school so it was familiar to her.
The Reading Tub (Web Site)
Read with 4-year-old child.
Little Kid Reaction: Our child liked this book, particularly the nonsense words and creative imagery (such as cows in cantaloupe canoes). We didn't have to go too many pages before we had some help with the reading.
Big Kid Reaction: Mom liked this more than Dad did. Although our child is already familiar with letter sounds, the book came in handy as we begin to read in earnest...there is a lot of repetition of sight words.
Pros: This is a book that has great potential for young listeners. The alliteration and repetition, not to mention the illustrations, make it fun for the children, and may encourage them to put sounds together for themselves. Books with CDs are a nice complement to Mommy and Daddy reading!
Cons: This isn't a bedtime story. You will want to share it during the day. It could get tiresome after awhile, so you will definitely want to use the CD to encourage independent "reading."
Borrow or Buy: Borrow, at least. This is a great book for preschoolers (and kindergarteners) who are learning letter sounds.
The Home Library (Singapore Web Site)
My dear friend Sook Neo put it best ... we're always looking for new ways to teach the same thing to different children, so we ourselves don't faint from boredom .... so Alethea read fluently at 4, Tim reads fluently at 4 .... it's on to Little Nathalie now! And we're going to do it differently .... how do we teach the letter sounds in a more efficient way to a younger child who is not ready to start Reading Made Easy? Well, that's when I came across Abadaba Alphabet. It's a clever, and honestly pretty funny programme that teaches the letter sounds. How creative is it? Well, let's just say you won't be repeating, "Ants on the Apple, a-a-a-" ad infinitum! And for those who think you can't teach phonics because you never learnt it, this book comes with a CD with a recording of the entire book! Check out a sample page on their website, www.abadabaalphabet.com. I think Nat and I are going to have a ball!
Endorsements
Marguerite Kelly, Syndicated Columnist and Co-author, The Mother's Almanac
"I'm in love with this book. Let me count the ways. It teaches phonics. It rhymes. It makes children laugh. And it will not only make you laugh, it will make you want to read it to your children again and again."
Linda Sittig, 1995 International Reading Association Teacher of the Year and Reading Specialist, Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Schools
"Abadaba Alphabet is a welcome addition to the field of phonemic awareness materials for young children! As a 32-year veteran of the public school reading curriculums, and a university professor, I was delighted with both the rhythm and the language of this book. Young children, their parents and their teachers will thoroughly enjoy the whimsical rhymes that accompany the sounds of the letters."
Beth Theriot, Head of School Academics, Montessori Academy at Belmont Greene, Ashburn, Virginia
"The children loved the concept and so do I .... they not only remembered the letter sounds, but asked to do more letter work. In subsequent classes, these students took the initiative and asked to work with ‘the Abadaba book.'"
Mary Swartzbaugh, Balls Bluff Elementary School, Leesburg, Virginia
"As a first-grade teacher, I would love to use Abadaba Alphabet in my class. Since short vowel sounds are taught before long vowels, I was happy to see this approach used here. I strongly recommend Abadaba Alphabet."
Myra Beth Hyder, Homeschooling Mother, Newport, Rhode Island
"Abadaba Alphabet is brilliant. A one-of-a-kind .... with its catchy rhythm and zany words, my child wanted it read to her again and again. Soon she was looking at words, sounding out the letters, and reading ...."