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The Alphabet Keeper
The Alphabet Keeper keeps all the letters caged in the dark. But one day they escape while she’s cleaning their cage–and then there is no stopping them! The clever letters are on the loose, rearranging themselves at every turn. With a few quick moves, the Alphabet Keeper’s hat becomes a cat. A bus turns into a bush. A rock changes into a rocket. And the flyaway alphabet is on its way to a final farewell!
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 11, 2003
21 people want to read
About the author
Mary Murphy
68 books28 followersChildren's author and illustrator Mary Murphy enchants even the youngest of readers with her bold style, combining eye-catching graphics and a bouncy text that seemingly jump off the pages.
Mary Murphy has an advanced diploma in Visual Communications and has written and illustrated a number of children's books, including her lift-the-flap, pull-the-tab book about friendship, ROXIE AND BO TOGETHER. In addition to creating children's books, she teaches illustration. The author-illustrator lives in Galway, Ireland.
Mary Murphy has an advanced diploma in Visual Communications and has written and illustrated a number of children's books, including her lift-the-flap, pull-the-tab book about friendship, ROXIE AND BO TOGETHER. In addition to creating children's books, she teaches illustration. The author-illustrator lives in Galway, Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 11, 2019
Fun read for kids who are just breaking the phonics code. We have moo changing to moon with the addition of an "n" and cat changed to chat with the addition of an "h". We have rats reversed to make star.
There's a fun story and anthropomorphized letters (like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, but with the addition of a human keeper).
There's a fun story and anthropomorphized letters (like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, but with the addition of a human keeper).
February 7, 2018
Liam loved this book - we've read it several times each day since we got it from the library. The letters change to turn things around - ex. the villain throws a rock and e and t jump up and turn it into a rocket.
March 17, 2021
Cute book about letters and the alphabet. Perfect for my 4 year olds.
October 13, 2015
Title: Alphabet Keeper
Author: Mary Murphy
Genre: Alphabet Book
Theme(s): Letters of the alphabet, forming words, alphabet sounds
Opening line/sentence: “The alphabet keepers keeps all her letters caged in the dark.”
Brief Book Summary: The alphabet keeper keeps all her letters in a cage, but one day while she’s cleaning, the a gust of wind opens the window and all the letters escape. She tries to find them and catch them, but the letters keep re-arranging themselves forming different words and preventing her from doing so. This book is a fun and engaging way to teach kids about letters as the letters become the ultimate story-tellers while they interrupt the story and change the words, making a new story.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Kirkus Reviews. A dark-haired lady in a shapeless overcoat keeps the letters of the alphabet caged until they escape into a witty and inventive story. When the Alphabet Keeper cleans the cage that imprisons the letters, out they fly, escaping through the window on the breeze. She chases them, but they elude capture-when she goes after them in a bus, the h flies down and turns the bus into a bush. When she evolves a plan, the t turns her plan into a plant. When the letters "Shout loud!" the c turns loud into a cloud, where they hide. Letters added, subtracted, and reversed contribute to the wordplay that will delight children particularly as they master the trick, for example, of reading "rats" backwards so that it is "star." In the end, the Alphabet Keeper loses them all, as they change "moo" into "moon" adding "et" to the rock she threw at them, and the rocket carries them to the moon. The illustrations use heavy black line and a few basic colors to create strong, simple, but energetic shapes. Each letter (they are all lower case) has an eye and a mouth, giving them a bit of personality while retaining their essence of letter form. A bright bit of imagination worthy of the old television show The Electric Company. (Picture book. 3-7)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: School Library Journal - School Library Journal. Gr 1-3-The Alphabet Keeper imprisons all her letters in a cage, but when she opens the door to clean, a gust of wind sweeps them out the window to freedom. The woman chases after them, but when she tries to capture them, they rearrange themselves, change the venue, and become something else. For example, when the Alphabet Keeper sneaks up on the letters in the park, "p turns upside down and the park turns into bark!" Her plan to track them down in a boat is foiled when she steps onto the deck only to find that "u swaps with e- and the deck turns into a duck." The Alphabet Lady is depicted with mean, shifty eyes; black hair drawn up in a bun; and a gray-green hat and coat. Her room is a dark, purple oval. In contrast, the liberated letters, all lowercase, are adorned with smiles and float playfully across the pages. Children will need a fairly firm handle on phonics to fully appreciate this manipulation of letters to create new words. Nevertheless, this story may be a good springboard for some wordplay and youngsters will enjoy building even more words as they go along.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviewers discuss specific examples of how the letters change themselves, ultimately changing the progression of the story, and preventing the keeper from catching them. The Kirkus review describes the illustrations of the book and how the letters have strong, but simple energy behind them, enhancing the story. In addition, The School Library Journal review states how children will need a strong understanding of phonics to fully appreciate the way the letters are manipulated and changing into new words. This is very important and true because if children do not have a mastered understanding of phonics they will miss parts of the book.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This novel deals with the conflict of the alphabet keeper trying to cage her letters and prevent them from having freedom. The characters must decide how to change themselves to avoid being captured, which represents their desire to be free. Characterization of the letters portrays their passion to be free and create new words, stories and paths for them to take, while the alphabet keeper is as the bad guy trying to tame them.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is perfect for an engaging and entertaining lesson on phonics for children ages 5-8. While learning about phonics, the alphabet and word sounds, a teacher can read this book as they take part in a lesson about such topics. After displaying an understanding of the topics, children can make their own stories similar to the Alphabet Keeper, and show their ideas and thoughts on how letters can change.
Author: Mary Murphy
Genre: Alphabet Book
Theme(s): Letters of the alphabet, forming words, alphabet sounds
Opening line/sentence: “The alphabet keepers keeps all her letters caged in the dark.”
Brief Book Summary: The alphabet keeper keeps all her letters in a cage, but one day while she’s cleaning, the a gust of wind opens the window and all the letters escape. She tries to find them and catch them, but the letters keep re-arranging themselves forming different words and preventing her from doing so. This book is a fun and engaging way to teach kids about letters as the letters become the ultimate story-tellers while they interrupt the story and change the words, making a new story.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Kirkus Reviews. A dark-haired lady in a shapeless overcoat keeps the letters of the alphabet caged until they escape into a witty and inventive story. When the Alphabet Keeper cleans the cage that imprisons the letters, out they fly, escaping through the window on the breeze. She chases them, but they elude capture-when she goes after them in a bus, the h flies down and turns the bus into a bush. When she evolves a plan, the t turns her plan into a plant. When the letters "Shout loud!" the c turns loud into a cloud, where they hide. Letters added, subtracted, and reversed contribute to the wordplay that will delight children particularly as they master the trick, for example, of reading "rats" backwards so that it is "star." In the end, the Alphabet Keeper loses them all, as they change "moo" into "moon" adding "et" to the rock she threw at them, and the rocket carries them to the moon. The illustrations use heavy black line and a few basic colors to create strong, simple, but energetic shapes. Each letter (they are all lower case) has an eye and a mouth, giving them a bit of personality while retaining their essence of letter form. A bright bit of imagination worthy of the old television show The Electric Company. (Picture book. 3-7)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: School Library Journal - School Library Journal. Gr 1-3-The Alphabet Keeper imprisons all her letters in a cage, but when she opens the door to clean, a gust of wind sweeps them out the window to freedom. The woman chases after them, but when she tries to capture them, they rearrange themselves, change the venue, and become something else. For example, when the Alphabet Keeper sneaks up on the letters in the park, "p turns upside down and the park turns into bark!" Her plan to track them down in a boat is foiled when she steps onto the deck only to find that "u swaps with e- and the deck turns into a duck." The Alphabet Lady is depicted with mean, shifty eyes; black hair drawn up in a bun; and a gray-green hat and coat. Her room is a dark, purple oval. In contrast, the liberated letters, all lowercase, are adorned with smiles and float playfully across the pages. Children will need a fairly firm handle on phonics to fully appreciate this manipulation of letters to create new words. Nevertheless, this story may be a good springboard for some wordplay and youngsters will enjoy building even more words as they go along.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviewers discuss specific examples of how the letters change themselves, ultimately changing the progression of the story, and preventing the keeper from catching them. The Kirkus review describes the illustrations of the book and how the letters have strong, but simple energy behind them, enhancing the story. In addition, The School Library Journal review states how children will need a strong understanding of phonics to fully appreciate the way the letters are manipulated and changing into new words. This is very important and true because if children do not have a mastered understanding of phonics they will miss parts of the book.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This novel deals with the conflict of the alphabet keeper trying to cage her letters and prevent them from having freedom. The characters must decide how to change themselves to avoid being captured, which represents their desire to be free. Characterization of the letters portrays their passion to be free and create new words, stories and paths for them to take, while the alphabet keeper is as the bad guy trying to tame them.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is perfect for an engaging and entertaining lesson on phonics for children ages 5-8. While learning about phonics, the alphabet and word sounds, a teacher can read this book as they take part in a lesson about such topics. After displaying an understanding of the topics, children can make their own stories similar to the Alphabet Keeper, and show their ideas and thoughts on how letters can change.
July 15, 2012
The Alphabet Keeper (Flyaway Alphabet) by Mary Murphy is the story of the Alphabet Keeper and her attempts to recapture her formerly caged letters when they fly away, out the window.
Murphy's very clever drawings should amuse readers as they root for the fast-thinking flyaway alphabet to escape from the cranky alphabet keeper. My favorite images are flying, come back, park to bark to dark, deck to duck, cat to hat, hedge to edge, stop into pots, crow to cow, and rock to rocket.
Murphy's word play and rearranging of words is fun. I think a flannel board version of this story could be effective, fun, and allow listeners to see the word play more effectively. The Alphabet Keeper character makes me think of the Soundkeeper and somewhat of Aunt Faintly from The Phantom Tollbooth. I think the British title -The Flyaway Alphabet - is a much more accurate title for this book, which is about sounds, letters, words, and wordplay, and NOT a book to use to learn the letters of the alphabet. Recommended for school and pulbic library collections. 4 stars.
For grades K - 3rd, alphabet, letters, sounds, cleverness, words, word play, and fans of Mary Murphy.
Murphy's very clever drawings should amuse readers as they root for the fast-thinking flyaway alphabet to escape from the cranky alphabet keeper. My favorite images are flying, come back, park to bark to dark, deck to duck, cat to hat, hedge to edge, stop into pots, crow to cow, and rock to rocket.
Murphy's word play and rearranging of words is fun. I think a flannel board version of this story could be effective, fun, and allow listeners to see the word play more effectively. The Alphabet Keeper character makes me think of the Soundkeeper and somewhat of Aunt Faintly from The Phantom Tollbooth. I think the British title -The Flyaway Alphabet - is a much more accurate title for this book, which is about sounds, letters, words, and wordplay, and NOT a book to use to learn the letters of the alphabet. Recommended for school and pulbic library collections. 4 stars.
For grades K - 3rd, alphabet, letters, sounds, cleverness, words, word play, and fans of Mary Murphy.
October 10, 2011
I had never read this book before, but the title sounded catchy, so I decided to read it! This is also a very funny book. The Alphabet keeper tries to keep the letters locked in a cage, but then they escape. As she is trying to chase them, they keep turning the words she says into different words so they won't be caught. It is a very good book to use when teaching the alphabet to children. Each letter is used throughout the book so it gets them familiar with all the different letters. Most alphabet books I have read start with the letter A and end with the letter Z, but this books randomized it, using one word and adding or taking away a letter in the word to change the meaning of it. I thought it was very creative and entertaing book to share with children.
December 30, 2011
This was a fun book we borrowed from the library this week. It a good book for the early grades. I thought it was just going to be an alphabet book when I borrowed it, but it is something more. The alphabet keeper accidentally lets her letters out of their dark cage and then tries to catch them again. Each time she is close to catching them they change a letter in the word of what she is using or what they are in and then she is foiled. A boat deck becomes a duck, a bus becomes a bush, loud letters become a cloud and a rock becomes a rocket. It is fun for readers who are in the early grades because they can figure out how to the letter swapping, adding or subtracting makes one thing another.
March 14, 2016
Cute little alphabet picture book. The Alphabet Keeper keeps the letters all locked up until one day she goes to clean the cage and they go flying out the window. The letters play tricks on the Alphabet Keeper as they move around and create different objects such as a plan turns into a plant and rats turn into a star, until moo turns into the moon and a rock turns into a rocket and they all fly away for good, forever free from the grasp of the alphabet keeper.
March 18, 2016
Cute little alphabet picture book. The Alphabet Keeper keeps the letters all locked up until one day she goes to clean the cage and they go flying out the window. The letters play tricks on the Alphabet Keeper as they move around and create different objects such as a plan turns into a plant and rats turn into a star, until moo turns into the moon and a rock turns into a rocket and they all fly away for good, forever free from the grasp of the alphabet keeper.
October 25, 2016
I have to say I absolutely loved this book. I found myself laughing throughout it and enjoyed the use of the letters to alter the story and the words as the woman tried to get them under control. The letters continuously changed the meaning of what she was trying to say by either adding themselves to the words or taking them away. It was fun and keeps the reader wanting to know what is next. I'd recommend this for the elementary level. It would be a fun way to help with spelling as well!
April 21, 2012
This is a great book for beginning spellers. In my classroom, I would use this book for kindergarten to 3rd graders as a fun way to talk about forming new words by rearranging the letters of the alphabet. We would then start an activity in which they have an array of letters in which they can spell any word with.
November 4, 2010
In this story, words turn into other words by switching a letter or two. So it's good for playing with letters and words. The story could be more exciting, but there are some amusing moments, like where "hat" becomes "cat" and the picture shows the woman with a cat on her head.
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July 22, 2011Not a fan of this book; yet again there's a grouchy, cross main character trying to cage things.
The jumble of letters on pages is EXTREMELY distracting and it's definitely too advanced for my pre-schooler.
The jumble of letters on pages is EXTREMELY distracting and it's definitely too advanced for my pre-schooler.
December 1, 2011
WHY don't people like this book more! Super fun reading and making sounds. My four year old can't figure out all the words yet but we make all the sounds and try to figure out the simpler words. Really, really fun!
October 9, 2013
Second grade students are delighted by this book, with imaginative illustrations and a story-line with letters spelling out words, and exchanging letters to stay away from a "keeper" who is not in the least kindly.
November 8, 2013
This is an excellent book for letter knowledge, although it is best suited for older readers because of its length and intricacy. On each page, the letters rearrange in order to turn into new words in order to escape from the alphabet keeper. It is a clever concept.
August 24, 2007
Great for advanced readers that are starting to different sounds together.
September 7, 2013
i loved this book, its funny and cute and i enjoyed reading it so so much! its a little longer than i can read to my 19 month old, and i cant wait until she can sit through this book to read it!!!
March 23, 2015
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13247482
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13247482
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews