THE KEY BOOKSHELF

Title: Nedobeck's Alphabet Book
Author: Don Nedobeck
Illustrator: Don Nedobeck
Publisher: Ideals Pub. Corp., New Wrinkle Press
Year Published: 1981 by Ideal,
1988 reissued by New Wrinkle
Type of Book: Children's Picture Book

There are hundreds and hundreds of alphabet books. Some are more interesting than others. This one is a lot of fun. Children will love it. So will grownups. Moms and dads will love reading it to their young children.

Most alphabet books devote each page to a different letter. Not every alphabet book has a different story on each page. This one does. The stories are short. They are also charming. Each stars a different animal. Each story uses words whose first letter is the one the author is trying to feature. There is Alvin Alligator, who "sits in an armchair eating an apple." There is Henrietta Hen, who "has a horrendous hairdo." Starting all the words of a sentence using the same letter has a name. It is alliteration.

Tongue twisters are sentences that use alliteration. Don Nedobeck uses alliteration to teach new words. Children can easily learn them by looking at his pictures. He has done an excellent job making sure that the meaning of the words can be seen or easily guessed in the pictures next to them. His drawings are charming. Oscar the ornery old owl looks like someone's angry grandfather. Sidney Sparrow looks happy as he soars through the sunlit sky.

Don Nedobeck is a Wisconsin writer and artist. He lives and works in Milwaukee. He started his career as a Dixieland jazz musician. He traveled all over the United States.

One of the big hotels he played at closed and he lost his job. So he began painting instead. Now he travels to sell his artwork. His posters of cats and other animals are sold in stores all over the United States.

All books reviewed in The Key Bookshelf section are available in the Milwaukee Public Library. All picture books are written at the difficulty level of the book being reviewed.