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Bugs

Alpha Bugs a Pop-Up Alphabet

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The creator of everyone's favorite pop-up books has outdone himself in this tour de force of an alphabet book. It features not only pop-ups, but touch-and-feel and scratch-and-sniff as well. This delightfully illustrated and engineered pop-up is certain to be a favorite of Carter's growing multitude of fans, young and old alike. Full color.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read

About the author

David A. Carter

253 books40 followers
David A. Carter is a master paper engineer and creator of the Bugs series, which has sold more than 6 million copies. Also the author and illustrator of the critically acclaimed Color series, featuring One Red Dot, Blue 2, 600 Black Spots, Yellow Square, and White Noise, he lives in Auburn, California, with his wife and two daughters.

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5 stars
79 (54%)
4 stars
45 (30%)
3 stars
20 (13%)
2 stars
2 (1%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Calista.
5,430 reviews31.3k followers
November 18, 2020
This pop-up book obviously uses the alphabet for each page. The little lines of verse are cute, example, Z is for the zebra-striped Zigzag Bug. This is from the library and that little pop-up was ripped off, so I don't know what it actually looks like, but the verse is cute. There were 2 letters that were ruined, but the rest of the book worked just fine.

This is merely a pop-up book. David throws in all the senses for a music type bug. There are tabs to pull, flaps to lift, fuzzy fur to feel and even 1 scratch-n-sniff along with the usual pop-ups.

Nephew has outgrown this type of thing, but its the sort of book that he would have spent time with figuring out how it works and seeing how everything moves. Plus, he is quarantined now anyway. I don't know what he would have rated it, he was quirky with his ratings, but he would have spent time with it.

It's a cute little book for beginnings with cute bugs and surprising textures and instructions on each page. It's bound to be popular.
Profile Image for Pam.
9,755 reviews54 followers
March 8, 2021
Pop up fun with bugs from A to Z.
Young readers will love manipulating the pages to see what these bugs can do.
Profile Image for Heidi-Marie.
3,855 reviews88 followers
February 8, 2016
Forgot to pull a book for Movement storytime. So I hurried in to the closet and grabbed this one. Being an alphabet one, it took a little longer. But the pop-up parts helped to keep the kids entertained. I just didn't have any time to practice them, which meant a couple of times I looked silly. But everyone laughed and the book was enjoyable for all.
Profile Image for Beth.
189 reviews4 followers
July 27, 2017
This book was so fun! Each letter had a short poem, something to touch or play with as well as brightly colored bug illustrations incorporating every day items. Very creative! This is a pop-up book with flaps, levers, scratch & sniff and textures! Excellent for brain development in several areas. Definitely worth the hundreds of re-reads your child will want!
Profile Image for Chelsea.
93 reviews
December 28, 2018
I volunteer at my local library reading to a 6-year-old girl who struggles with reading. She loved this book and all of the bug characters in it. This book is a great book for early readers who are learning the alphabet. It does a great job at making reading fun!
Profile Image for CRC Washburn.
69 reviews
December 16, 2008
This book was just on a display shelf, and started FLYING off it. We had trouble keeping it. The bugs are very artistic, and the pages are tactile. There is a po-up poster as well, it is very nice!
Profile Image for Theresa.
8,267 reviews134 followers
May 3, 2015
Alpha Bugs
Carter, David A.
a pop up alphabet book
Profile Image for Michelle.
14 reviews
January 18, 2012
So cute! The pop-ups are great, though a little delicate for my 20 month old son.
Profile Image for Judy.
249 reviews
January 24, 2014
kids enjoy the bug pictures and the pop up things and movements that they can do while reading the book! very fun book!
Profile Image for Justin Castillo.
136 reviews19 followers
January 4, 2017
Amusing and creative for young readers and the child in all of us. Thanks to downtown Salem library for the book. Wonder how long it takes just to construct a book this interactive.
Profile Image for Maliha Arman.
101 reviews
January 18, 2018
This three-D book makes it very reader friendly. Allows each child to partake in the reading, while they guess what the letters may be. This book enhances creativity and imagination.
Profile Image for Paola Nunez.
86 reviews
February 19, 2020
I really like how the book is 3-D because this gives to opportunity for children to touch. The book has very colorful illustrations. I recommend using this book to teach the alphabet.
22 reviews
Read
October 13, 2016
Title: Alpha Bugs
Author: David A. Carter
Illustrator: David A. Carter
Genre: Pop Up Book, Alphabet Book
Theme(s): Insects, Alphabet
Opening line/sentence: “A is for the agile A-to-Z Alphabet Bug.”

Brief Book Summary: Alpha Bugs goes through the entire alphabet and incorporates bugs throughout the story. There are many different types of pulls, pushes and things to uncover. There are even scratch and sniffs along with a furry plush pink powder puff bag.

Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Eleanor Heldrich (Children's Literature)
Little Simon has reissued this extremely successful pop-up book first published twelve years ago, this time in a smaller size. The book still has everything book shoppers seek for small children--surprises, humor, opportunities for seeing new things and learning from them, sturdy construction, and a lot of movables. There are twenty-six entirely different flaps to lift, one for each letter of the alphabet. David Carter, famous for his many pop-up books, painted the pictures and engineered the actions. There are all kinds, sizes, and shapes of imaginary insects rolling down the pages in spirals, leaping up when tabs are pulled, popping up when a page is opened, jumping out of boxes, spinning around on wheels, and there is even a spot of texture. Not often can you find this much motion in such variety. The new book is twenty percent smaller and a lot less expensive than the 1994 original.

Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Alphabet learners get a wild introduction to interactive education in Carter's Alpha Bugs. Carter gives the same rollicking treatment to letters that he did to numbers in How Many Bugs in a Box? This is a multi-sensory approach to the alphabet in which young learners can scratch and sniff the fragrant Flower Bug, touch the soft pink "plush pink Powder Puff Bug" or slide the "yellow Yin-yang Yo-yo Bug" up and down the page. There's humor and artistry to please every age.

Response to Two Professional Reviews: I agree with both Eleanor Heldrich and Susie Wilde of Children’s Literature reviews. This book is so interactive, which will definitely keep the child interested and engaged. This interactive book will definitely help children want to learn the alphabet because it is so hands on. The only problem was this book is extremely fragile and will be hard to keep in tact with children playing with all the flaps.

Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book is great for children learning the alphabet because of the large and eye catching letters and pictures to go along with it. The pictures are very large, clear, simple and distinct, which children will be able to easily make out what everything is. There is not really much of a plot to follow, but the reader knows that everything has to do with bugs throughout the story because the pages always relate back to the bugs.

Consideration of Instructional Application: One thing I will do with this book is have the children guess what will be under the flaps. Going along with that I will allow this to be an interactive read aloud and have children come up and open the flaps themselves. I could also incorporate the teaching of insects into the classroom after reading this to a classroom.
26 reviews
November 30, 2020
1. Bank Street Best Books of the Year

2. K

3. This is an interactive alphabet book that introduces the letters of the alphabet in order through cute, little bugs. Each introduction of a letter on the page is paired with interactive features such as pop-up flaps, scratch and sniffs, and textured parts of pages to feel.

4. I used to love interactive books as a child and this must have been one of my favorites as the copy I have looks rather beaten up. Interactive, hands-on learning, I believe, is one of the best ways to develop a love of learning while teaching a crucial skill like knowing the alphabet.

5. Students will pick a letter and come up with words that begin with the letter. Students will then be shown how to make their own little pop-up card using construction paper, safety scissors, and glue sticks. The letter they picked will be what pops-up when their card is opened and the words they came up with will be written on the card itself.

Throughout the read aloud, periodically, the teacher will ask students what they predict will happen when they pull the tab or open the flaps. Students can take turns coming up and doing so.
25 reviews
November 20, 2018
This book is appropriate for Pre-K into Kindergarten.

Alpha Bugs is a silly and interactive approach to the alphabet. Every page includes alliteration and imagination. For each letter there is an invented "bug" with movable sections.

I love this book. I remember reading it when I was younger with my parents. You learn the alphabet, while experiencing phonological awareness and appreciating the power of imagination.

This book can be used to learn the alphabet in a non-traditional way. You can ask students to pick a letter and create their own "Alpha Bug." Help them find words and phrases to use that belong to their letter of choice. They could also perform their creations, embodying the alphabet.
63 reviews
April 13, 2020
This book is silly and fun for children; the book is useful to teach children the alphabet in a fun interactive way. The book is full of engaging popups and uses a multi-sensory approach to the alphabet. The children could use different senses like smelling, touching, and feeling the pages of the book. The children will need to pull some parts of the pages to get the popup to come out.
This popup book is very engaging, and it provides a different silly vocabulary to each letter.
Profile Image for Mayra Harrison.
68 reviews3 followers
November 18, 2020
This is an interacting alphabet book. I really enjoyed reading it to my students who are 3 and up. A great book to read when teaching the ABC's.
58 reviews3 followers
November 18, 2020
A very cute book to read to children during storytime or bedtime. It is a pop up educational book about the alphabet. The pop-ups make the book much more interesting.
480 reviews9 followers
June 26, 2009
I really like that this book includes both uppercase and lowercase letters that are bold and featured on each page so that children can really see them while we read about them. I also like that the book has flaps and pop-ups and things for the kids to interact with. I think this helps learn the letters even more than just looking and hearing about them.
2 reviews
June 4, 2015
My 22 month old son really loves this book. It has helped him learn his alphabets & he's been recognising & reciting all the letters since he was 19 months old because of this book. The movable tabs, flip the flaps & pop-ups here are amazing.
Profile Image for Elle.
1,911 reviews
July 5, 2016
An adorable alphabet pop-up book with great flaps and tabs for children to pull to add movement to the story. My favorite bug was the umbrella bug which had to be uncovered by lifting three tabs of items in the closet.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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