What do you think?
Rate this book
Alphabeasts
From the weird and wonderful imagination of an amazing new artist comes an alphabet book like no other. Kids will delight in discovering animals from A to Z living together in an old Victorian mansion. They'll meet an elephant in the ballroom playing with a model train, an octopus hanging from the foyer chandelier — and even a zebra enjoying a soak in the bathtub!
Using watercolours and colored pencils, Wallace Edwards has created a bizarre and luxurious world, rich in texture and detail. An engaging mix of art and alphabet book, Alphabeasts provides the basis for hours of animated discussion and quiet contemplation.
Using watercolours and colored pencils, Wallace Edwards has created a bizarre and luxurious world, rich in texture and detail. An engaging mix of art and alphabet book, Alphabeasts provides the basis for hours of animated discussion and quiet contemplation.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2002
147 people want to read
About the author
Wallace Edwards
44 books24 followersWallace Edwards was a Canadian children’s author and illustrator whose imagination transformed the world of animals and strange creatures for a generation of children. His illustrations don’t condescend to children, they engage the imagination on multiple levels, blending childhood whimsy with adult sophistication.
A Canadian illustrator and writer who won the 2002 Governor General's Award for his first children's book Alphabeasts., Edwards was also the recipient of a multitude of awards and short lists, the Gold Medal from ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and the Children’s Choice Award from the International Reading Association for Alphabeasts; the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award, The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, the Children’s Choice Award from the International Reading Association for Monkey Business; the Canadian Library Association’s Honour for Mixed Beasts; and the Junior Library Guild Award for The Cat’s Pajamas.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Edwards was a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and his work can be found in numerous public and private collections. He has also worked widely with Metro Toronto Zoo, the City of Toronto, the B.C. Ministry of the Environment, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and various magazines.
On October 16, 2007, Wallace Edwards was nominated for the Governor General's Award for illustrating The Painted Circus. To date, Edwards has both written and illustrated fifteen published books, of which three have been nominated for this, Canada's most prestigious literary award.
His art has been described as “Curious and witty, sophisticated and highly original in approach…” resulting in work which is “visually pleasing as well as mentally stimulating” (taken from the Canada Council for the Arts web site). His children’s books have been reviewed in the Quill and Quire, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Macleans, the Christian Science Monitor, the National Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, the Washington Post, and the School Library Journal, among others.
Edwards was also a pioneering artist in virtual and augmented reality. In 2013 he was the Canada Council supported Artist-in-Residence at York University's Future Cinema Lab where he first began to create augmented and immersive materials. He has since gone on to create work in virtual and augmented reality exhibited at the international Electronic Literature Organization conferences in Portugal, Canada and Italy.
Edwards lived in Yarker, Ontario, Canada, and died on December 25, 2022, in Kingston, Ontario, at the age of 65.
A Canadian illustrator and writer who won the 2002 Governor General's Award for his first children's book Alphabeasts., Edwards was also the recipient of a multitude of awards and short lists, the Gold Medal from ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and the Children’s Choice Award from the International Reading Association for Alphabeasts; the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award, The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, the Children’s Choice Award from the International Reading Association for Monkey Business; the Canadian Library Association’s Honour for Mixed Beasts; and the Junior Library Guild Award for The Cat’s Pajamas.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Edwards was a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and his work can be found in numerous public and private collections. He has also worked widely with Metro Toronto Zoo, the City of Toronto, the B.C. Ministry of the Environment, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and various magazines.
On October 16, 2007, Wallace Edwards was nominated for the Governor General's Award for illustrating The Painted Circus. To date, Edwards has both written and illustrated fifteen published books, of which three have been nominated for this, Canada's most prestigious literary award.
His art has been described as “Curious and witty, sophisticated and highly original in approach…” resulting in work which is “visually pleasing as well as mentally stimulating” (taken from the Canada Council for the Arts web site). His children’s books have been reviewed in the Quill and Quire, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Macleans, the Christian Science Monitor, the National Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, the Washington Post, and the School Library Journal, among others.
Edwards was also a pioneering artist in virtual and augmented reality. In 2013 he was the Canada Council supported Artist-in-Residence at York University's Future Cinema Lab where he first began to create augmented and immersive materials. He has since gone on to create work in virtual and augmented reality exhibited at the international Electronic Literature Organization conferences in Portugal, Canada and Italy.
Edwards lived in Yarker, Ontario, Canada, and died on December 25, 2022, in Kingston, Ontario, at the age of 65.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
August 18, 2018
Que ilustraciones tan hermosas, muy sombrías para su target (niños pequeños aprendiendo el abecedario), pero perfecto para adultos que busquen un curioso libro de mesa.
November 30, 2007
ALPHABEASTS is a far cry from your average A-is-for-apple-I'm-so-bored-I-think-I'll-skip-learning-to-read-and-won't-you-kill-me-now alphabet book. Because in Wallace Edwards' head, K is for kingfisher, N is for narwhal and Q is for quetzal. (It should be pointed out that Z is still for zebra, but this zebra's in a bathtub, so there.) The language is clear and simple yet wholly unexpected and wry and strangely tender. "A is for Alligator, awake from a dream..." The illustrations are entrancing. And I was delighted, in particular, by the juxtaposition of all these animal almost-portraits being set inside a house. Great attention was paid to the representation of the details of the wallpaper, upholstery, floors, rugs, tapestries, crockery, as well as to the animals themselves. It is absurd and it is sublime.
Bought two copies, one to read and one to cut up. Framed a few and hung them above the fireplace. My favourite is "R is for Rhino, daydreaming for hours". That look.
Bought two copies, one to read and one to cut up. Framed a few and hung them above the fireplace. My favourite is "R is for Rhino, daydreaming for hours". That look.
November 23, 2025
3.5, rounding up. Beautifully illustrated with distinct animal choices (kingfisher for K! Tarantula for T!) but husband and I can't help but be reminded of Graeme Base's Animalia so maybe I'll look for that next library trip.
June 17, 2019
I love Edwards' books. I tell people they're for my son, but really they're totally for me. Some of the words and rhymes are a little bit advanced - maybe even a bit dark - for kids, but the illustrations are brilliant and deserve more than just a quick glance. Lots of hidden pictures and meanings to be found. What an amazing artist!
September 27, 2020
Gorgeous illustrations! This alphabet book has much to examine with clever combinations. The quetzal decorating with flowers is just one of the rooms opulent with wallpapers and ornate woodwork in a mansion of unusual animals, except for the cat studying its own reflection as a
tiger. A well-deserved GG winner.
tiger. A well-deserved GG winner.
January 13, 2023
This Picture Book is an amazing piece of Canadian Art. All audiences can enjoy the unique and surreal animal portraits. The symbology is almost magic. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🦄🪄🥰 “U is for Unicorn, the shyest of beasts.”
August 3, 2019
Charming art, fun animal choices, and a good level of challenge for a 4 year old.
September 2, 2019
Wonderfully creative with intricate images
April 1, 2020
A slightly different take on the alphabet. My son loved all the different beast!
January 9, 2021
The illustrations are gorgeous, but some where a little too busy for my kids to make sense of.
December 31, 2021
Very clever alphabet book with adorable, vintage-style artwork that I really appreciated. The pig was my favorite.
March 2, 2023
I have no clue why so many of the animals look miserable or WTF a xenosaur is. But the art was cool.
April 19, 2009
Alphabeasts is not your run-of-the-mill ABC Picture Book. Edwards takes us on a trip through an imagined menagerie of unusual animals doing unusual things in paintings that are strikingly reminiscent of works of art you might find in a museum. In its high-quality color pages, children and adults of all ages find a poetic journey through a Victorian mansion filled with an alligator who has just wakened from dreaming, a bat slurping ice cream, a cat who looks into a mirror and sees himself as a tiger, a duck guarding a collection of toys, an Ibis “arranging some pears,” a kingfisher in a tackle box, a Mandrill waiting on the telephone to ring, a Narwhal wearing a shawl, an octopus changing the lights in a chandelier, a daydreaming Rhino, and a letter-writing Xenosaur, among others.
Each of the paintings in the book depict these fantastic creatures in wonderfully furnished rooms complete with unusual, ornate wallpapers and intricately detailed objects. For example, the depiction of “E is for Elephant, / on the right track” is of an elephant dressed for the circus in full regalia, playing with a toy steam engine train set on a well-worn hardwood floor in a room with art nouveaux wainscoting, stained glass windows, and art nouveaux-style ornate floral-patterned wall paper. The detail in the elephant’s wrinkled skin is enough for long study, but the amazing thing is that each of the twenty-six pictures are equally dazzling. The alphabet comes to life under Edwards’ care.
Each of the paintings in the book depict these fantastic creatures in wonderfully furnished rooms complete with unusual, ornate wallpapers and intricately detailed objects. For example, the depiction of “E is for Elephant, / on the right track” is of an elephant dressed for the circus in full regalia, playing with a toy steam engine train set on a well-worn hardwood floor in a room with art nouveaux wainscoting, stained glass windows, and art nouveaux-style ornate floral-patterned wall paper. The detail in the elephant’s wrinkled skin is enough for long study, but the amazing thing is that each of the twenty-six pictures are equally dazzling. The alphabet comes to life under Edwards’ care.
October 1, 2016
Beautiful yet confusing alphabet book.
Gorgeous artwork. Another animal alphabet book. It has rhyming couplets, like A is for Alligator,/awake from a dream. Or B is for Bat,/slurping ice cream. The weird thing is that the paintings are very detailed, but most of the objects in them don't start with the letter. The bat, for example, is carrying a hammer with his feet. I'm not sure why. Hammer doesn't start with B. He doesn't look like he's about to use the hammer for anything. Maybe it's supposed to be a ball-peen hammer? And there's random fruit on the table, like an apple, a pear, a cherry, and a jelly bean, chocolates, and some other candy, and a spoon. Okay. Those could be used to decorate the ice cream sundae that the bat is licking, but I really don't know what the purpose of the bat having a hammer and fruit is. I'm kind of baffled by that.
The other artwork is equally intricate and baffling. The different animals look like they're all in different rooms of the same house, which is depicted from the outside in the beginning and end. I thought X being a xenosaur was interesting. I didn't even know that's an animal. I had to look that one up. I like how U is unicorn, but you actually don't see the front of it because it's hiding. It could just be a horse. Interesting. Just animals doing non-animal type things, like a hippopotamus about to play a violin. Very imaginative. Very pretty.
For more children's book reviews, check out my site at http://www.drttmk.com.
Gorgeous artwork. Another animal alphabet book. It has rhyming couplets, like A is for Alligator,/awake from a dream. Or B is for Bat,/slurping ice cream. The weird thing is that the paintings are very detailed, but most of the objects in them don't start with the letter. The bat, for example, is carrying a hammer with his feet. I'm not sure why. Hammer doesn't start with B. He doesn't look like he's about to use the hammer for anything. Maybe it's supposed to be a ball-peen hammer? And there's random fruit on the table, like an apple, a pear, a cherry, and a jelly bean, chocolates, and some other candy, and a spoon. Okay. Those could be used to decorate the ice cream sundae that the bat is licking, but I really don't know what the purpose of the bat having a hammer and fruit is. I'm kind of baffled by that.
The other artwork is equally intricate and baffling. The different animals look like they're all in different rooms of the same house, which is depicted from the outside in the beginning and end. I thought X being a xenosaur was interesting. I didn't even know that's an animal. I had to look that one up. I like how U is unicorn, but you actually don't see the front of it because it's hiding. It could just be a horse. Interesting. Just animals doing non-animal type things, like a hippopotamus about to play a violin. Very imaginative. Very pretty.
For more children's book reviews, check out my site at http://www.drttmk.com.
May 30, 2018
Wallace Edwards' artwork is trippy, outlandish, playful, and beautifully layered with colors and patterns. The text occasionally feels forced but I think this is one of those picture books where you can skip what's written and have a blast creating a story for each page. I like how the quality of art is very adult-like, but the animals in their strange surroundings are very silly and childlike. I also applaud Edwards' choice for the letter 'X.' Oftentimes, authors who write alphabet books choose something desperate, and therefore awful, for the letter 'X.' Rest assured, this is not one of those books.
August 27, 2009
The illustrations here are lovely if a little cluttered. The rhyming text was weird. I'm not sure how to really describe it, but it just didn't seem to work. Alligator awake from a nap. Some bird arranging pears. Zebra taking a bath. Hm, this isn't working. I really don't know how to say it, it just didn't flow. Feel right. Make sense. Just a bit odd. Too odd.
Not high on my list of useful books for learning the alphabet. Or even reading for fun. My kids did like the pictures though.
Not high on my list of useful books for learning the alphabet. Or even reading for fun. My kids did like the pictures though.
Read
June 23, 2013If you think that Alphabeasts by Wallace Edwards is just another ABC book, think again. This creative and comical re-take of the classic alphabet book, where tarantulas arrive for tea and swans dance with glee turns stereotypes on their heads. Combined with vivid, beautifully detailed artwork, this is a 'must have' for any beginning reader's library. Age 4-8. Review from CM magazine: http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol9/no11/alphabeasts.html
March 6, 2016
"A is for Alligator, awake from a dream...B is for Bat, slurping ice cream..." -Wallace Edwards
Alphabeasts is not your typical ABC book! Using striking watercolor, colored pencil, and his quirky imagination, Wallace Edwards introduces the alphabet in an unusual way that entices readers from beginning to end. Overall, I thought this book was clever. The illustrations are both stunning and amusing. I would encourage it to be read aloud. It was fun exploring Edwards's Victorian house full of interesting creatures engaged in bizarre activities.
Alphabeasts is not your typical ABC book! Using striking watercolor, colored pencil, and his quirky imagination, Wallace Edwards introduces the alphabet in an unusual way that entices readers from beginning to end. Overall, I thought this book was clever. The illustrations are both stunning and amusing. I would encourage it to be read aloud. It was fun exploring Edwards's Victorian house full of interesting creatures engaged in bizarre activities.
June 29, 2008
This is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Not your typical ABC, the pictures are strange and lovely--animals doing odd things--full of lush details and reminiscent of paintings you know or think you should. One I'd like to own.
March 10, 2009
Not the all too common A is for apple ABC book. Great choices in beasts -- some regulars appear, and then there are the ibis, kingfisher and quetzal. Illustrations are fantastic. There is an obvious attention to detail that provides much to look at and discuss.
September 20, 2011
The illustrations in this this one are absolutely gorgeous. The kiddos love pointing out all of the little details. They're learning the alphabet anyways and this is a very fun way to go over it. Have had to read it over and over again.
January 1, 2015
This book is pretty, and that is what you want, it’s not a dorky looking alligator on the cover. It has a lazy alligator that got onto a red arm chair somehow and he’s just laying their being lazy! All of the water colors are creative and amusing, great quality for an alphabet book.
November 17, 2016
Great Victorian house. Nice to see some exotic and mythological animals represented. Clever, cute and alliterative rhymes. This author has met a cat and understands them. Xenosaur, who knew! I can now answer confidently if anyone asks me for an animal name starting with X. I feel so smart
September 30, 2008
Very cool illustrations. Frank would spend a lot of time studying each one.
June 10, 2009
The odd animals, the strange Victorian clutter and languor, the unusual diction, and rhymes are all fabulous.
August 6, 2009
Artistically, this book is quite good. It also sets the stage for good conversation with an older toddler.
September 18, 2009
This book is surreal, absurd and punny. Also it's an alphabet book with animals. I recommend the Hippo.
June 22, 2010
This was a little better that the other one I just read, but hmmmmm... Just not up my alley. However, if you love richly detailed illustrations, this just might be the book for you.
September 28, 2010
Simple book, but very pretty pictures. The kids really liked it.
January 18, 2012
Weird and wonderful indeed. My son cackled with delight when we were reading this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews