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Richard Scarry's Chipmunk's ABC
Chipmunk lives under the apple tree, in a burrow. He likes to eat cake and pick daffodils. This cheerful book features appealing animal characters, bright artwork in Richard Scarry's classic style, and simple sentences that teach the alphabet.
24 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 36 reviews
July 1, 2025
*My* current favorite book for letters. (My daughter has a different one. 😜)
The pictures are colorful and Scarry’s charming characters adorn every page.
Watch my kiddo’s ABC time and other recommended books.
Ages: 2 - 5
Content Considerations: nothing to note.
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The pictures are colorful and Scarry’s charming characters adorn every page.
Watch my kiddo’s ABC time and other recommended books.
Ages: 2 - 5
Content Considerations: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
April 7, 2025
Richard Scarry books take me back to my childhood...a place that was safe and full of potential; a nice place to go when you are feeling a little down. I you have chipmunks/squirrels where you live and there is a small child in your life learning ABC's I can't think of a better book than this; look at then even as you read the book to the child!
February 19, 2014
My five-year-old son loves alphabet books and Little Golden Books. I love Little Golden Books and fondly remember Richard Scarry's illustrations. So, of course, when I saw this book, I had to buy it.
This is not really the best alphabet book out there. The text does little to reinforce the sounds of the letters. But this book is a shining example of Scarry's illustrative work.
Actual rating: Text, 2.5 stars; Illustration, 5 stars, but I round up.
This is not really the best alphabet book out there. The text does little to reinforce the sounds of the letters. But this book is a shining example of Scarry's illustrative work.
Actual rating: Text, 2.5 stars; Illustration, 5 stars, but I round up.
October 2, 2018
This is actually the strongest alphabet book that I've reviewed; it's kind of funny that it's older than I am!
Going into a book published in 1976, I wondered if it was going to be a bit dated. I was surprised at how well it stands up. It's not even overly gendered (although there aren't very many girls in the story); it's nice to see the boys making tea and cutting the cheese (actual cheese, not... you know). The only thing that might require some explanation is M is for mumps. Hopefully parents won't scare their kids half to death (so... maybe this book would be better read to the child by a grandparent or great-grandparent who can explain that mumps is not as bad as the media makes it out to be).
What I really liked was how most of the letters had multiple examples of words that started with that letter. The pictures were okay; they were kind of nostalgic for me, but I read a lot of Richard Scarry books when I was little. Overall, it's a pretty strong example of an alphabet book, and I can see little kids wanting to read it over and over.
Quotable moment:
Going into a book published in 1976, I wondered if it was going to be a bit dated. I was surprised at how well it stands up. It's not even overly gendered (although there aren't very many girls in the story); it's nice to see the boys making tea and cutting the cheese (actual cheese, not... you know). The only thing that might require some explanation is M is for mumps. Hopefully parents won't scare their kids half to death (so... maybe this book would be better read to the child by a grandparent or great-grandparent who can explain that mumps is not as bad as the media makes it out to be).
What I really liked was how most of the letters had multiple examples of words that started with that letter. The pictures were okay; they were kind of nostalgic for me, but I read a lot of Richard Scarry books when I was little. Overall, it's a pretty strong example of an alphabet book, and I can see little kids wanting to read it over and over.
Quotable moment:
H is for hide-and-seek. Chipmunk and his friends hide in holes and hedges.
August 11, 2025
One of my favorite golden books - great illustrations the kids enjoy and lots of letter sounds that tell a sort of story through the alphabet.
January 27, 2018
Another great book by Richard Scarry.
November 10, 2023
A Golden Book classic but much has been improved in early childhood education since this book’s last edition. The illustrations are lively and fun. The words are inventive. There are a few things that required me to pause in my reading and explain what’s listed to my 2 yo rather than simply reading and enjoying the book as written.
1) Some letters receive 3-4 example words while others receive only 1.
2) Some example words do not represent the letter listed, such as “chipmunk” for the letter C. While the pronunciation is beyond the book’s scope, offering a “CH” word for the letter “C” seems counter-intuitive nevertheless.
3) Another instance of this occurs with the letter K, an example word is “knife”.
1) Some letters receive 3-4 example words while others receive only 1.
2) Some example words do not represent the letter listed, such as “chipmunk” for the letter C. While the pronunciation is beyond the book’s scope, offering a “CH” word for the letter “C” seems counter-intuitive nevertheless.
3) Another instance of this occurs with the letter K, an example word is “knife”.
April 18, 2020
I think this is one of the better ABC books. It reads like a story and the sentences link together nicely, so the kids feel like they’re just hearing a tale instead of learning the alphabet, which keeps them more interested in the book.
November 26, 2018
Richard Scarry's illustrations are darling, but the "story" is just meh.
December 19, 2018
My youngest was delighted and instructed.
April 27, 2019
This one was interesting. Mouse has the mumps. Luckily, he gets better. I was going to type, "Clearly from another time," but you know, that's not really true anymore.
November 18, 2019
I liked it. A solid achievement to pull off a narrative ABC book that for the most part makes sense and flows well.
December 1, 2019
Seriously? That's all you could come up with for "x"?
But the frog being an apparent nudist made me chuckle!
But the frog being an apparent nudist made me chuckle!
January 21, 2024
Delightful
March 14, 2024
Wholesome and adorable, has a lovely cozy feel.
June 26, 2009
I love Richard Scarry. I like the pictures in this book and I like that each letter has a bold word that goes with it to really help children see the letter that each page talks about. The book definitely shows it's age. I'm not sure children today will identify with some of the games played in this book or some of the pictures (the telephone for example). Also, the "M" pages talks about mumps. I don't think kids today know what those are.
March 10, 2013
In an attempt to go back and revisit some of the books of my childhood, I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of them held up over the years. Chipmunk's ABC--isn't one of them. It's a beautifully illustrated book (I'm in love with Scarry's artstyle, and he'll forever be one of my favourite artists in any medium) but there really isn't a lot here. It's worth a glance for the aesthetic values, but the subject matter, while important (teaching young people their ABC's) it's rather bland.
February 28, 2010
Roberta Miller does a fine job in her take on the traditional ABC's teaching book, and the deep, homey drawings of Richard Scarry make this book into a wonderful bit of wholesomeness, very much taken from the time it was written. I would definitely recommend this book ahead of most others like it.
February 27, 2015
A Little Golden Book from my youth, re-read as an adult. What could you possibly not like about Richard Scarry-illustrated chipmunks teaching you your ABC's?
February 26, 2014
It was interesting to see Scarry's name above the title on this Little Golden Book, particularly when he didn't write it. Also of interest was one of the animals having mumps - it's great to see small cultural touches like this that children in the couple of decades are simply unaware of.
January 24, 2016
Pleasant illustrations and various example of words for each of the ABCs.
I always enjoy Richard Scarry's illustrations.
Age Range: 3 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 2
Series: Little Golden Book
I always enjoy Richard Scarry's illustrations.
Age Range: 3 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 2
Series: Little Golden Book
December 7, 2008
This is a simpler version than many of Scarry's ABC boooks. It is an early reader, so there is only one image and caption per page.
July 29, 2010
One of the very few books I still have from my childhood.
August 17, 2011
Although I like Richard Scarry’s illustrations—the chipmunk is very cute as he goes about his alphabet adventures—the story is just ordinary.
September 6, 2012
4* art
4* story
4* fun
4* story
4* fun
August 5, 2016
Typical Scarry.
May 28, 2015
"M" is for "Mumps". How adorable! Also, thank heavens for vaccines!
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February 16, 2016We had this book a while ago and I remember loving it when I was little. I think the Mumps part was my favorite part:)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 36 reviews