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Eh? To Zed
Words beginning with each letter of the alphabet accompany illustrations evoking the culture and heritage of Canada.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 14, 2003
About the author
Kevin Major
33 books40 followersKevin Major is the author of 20 books, for both young people and adults. The first, Hold Fast, won several awards in Canada and was placed on the Hans Christian Andersen Honour List. It was released in 2014 as a feature film. His second book, Far From Shore, was the winner of the first Canadian Young Adult Book Award. Others which followed include Blood Red Ochre and Eating Between the Lines, winner of the CACL Book-of-the-Year Award.
In 1992 Kevin was given the Vicky Metcalf Award, for an outstanding body of work of significance to young people. The languages into which his work has been translated include French, Danish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.
An adult novel, No Man’s Land, about the Newfoundland Regiment in World War I, was published in 1995 to much acclaim. Kevin’s adaption of the story was brought to the stage by Rising Tide Theatre and has played for more than a dozen years.
His more recent books include the Christmas classic The House of Wooden Santas, and a history of Newfoundland and Labrador: As Near To Heaven By Sea (a Canadian best-seller and finalist for the Pearson Non-Fiction Prize). Ann and Seamus, a verse novel released in 2003 was shortlisted for a total of ten awards. It has since been turned into an opera. The adult novel New Under the Sun was published in 2010, book one of a trilogy of historical fiction. The second, Found Far and Wide, was released in 2016, and the third, Land Beyond the Sea, in 2019.
In 2018 Kevin started a projected serious of crime novels with One for the Rock. He anticipates the second will arrive in bookstores in the fall of 2020.
Kevin has been named Memorial University’s Alumnus-of-the-Year, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Artist-of-the-Year .
John Moss, writing in “A Reader’s Guide to the Canadian Novel,” has said, “Kevin Major is among the best Canadian writers of his generation. He has established himself as a figure of singular importance in our literature.”
He lives in St. John’s, NL with his wife Anne. They have two grown sons.
In 1992 Kevin was given the Vicky Metcalf Award, for an outstanding body of work of significance to young people. The languages into which his work has been translated include French, Danish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.
An adult novel, No Man’s Land, about the Newfoundland Regiment in World War I, was published in 1995 to much acclaim. Kevin’s adaption of the story was brought to the stage by Rising Tide Theatre and has played for more than a dozen years.
His more recent books include the Christmas classic The House of Wooden Santas, and a history of Newfoundland and Labrador: As Near To Heaven By Sea (a Canadian best-seller and finalist for the Pearson Non-Fiction Prize). Ann and Seamus, a verse novel released in 2003 was shortlisted for a total of ten awards. It has since been turned into an opera. The adult novel New Under the Sun was published in 2010, book one of a trilogy of historical fiction. The second, Found Far and Wide, was released in 2016, and the third, Land Beyond the Sea, in 2019.
In 2018 Kevin started a projected serious of crime novels with One for the Rock. He anticipates the second will arrive in bookstores in the fall of 2020.
Kevin has been named Memorial University’s Alumnus-of-the-Year, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Artist-of-the-Year .
John Moss, writing in “A Reader’s Guide to the Canadian Novel,” has said, “Kevin Major is among the best Canadian writers of his generation. He has established himself as a figure of singular importance in our literature.”
He lives in St. John’s, NL with his wife Anne. They have two grown sons.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 19, 2019
This is the second really Canadian alphabet book I've read, the first being M Is for Maple. I think I like Eh? to Zed better, even though it still erroneously claims the zipper as a Canadian invention.
Each two-page spread features two letters, eight objects, and rhyming text. Even as an adult who's lived most of her life in Canada, I had trouble recognizing some of the terms; luckily, there's a big section of notes at the end that covers all of the words in the book. Also at the end are some notes on the illustrations and why the artist chose to depict some of the things in the book the way he did.
Unlike most alphabet books, this one really isn't for young children. They might enjoy listening to the rhymes and looking at the pictures, but the real audience for this one is, I think, older school-age children and even adults. It's definitely a book that should be in every Canadian's collection, as it's chock-full of great starting places for more learning about Canadian culture and history.
Each two-page spread features two letters, eight objects, and rhyming text. Even as an adult who's lived most of her life in Canada, I had trouble recognizing some of the terms; luckily, there's a big section of notes at the end that covers all of the words in the book. Also at the end are some notes on the illustrations and why the artist chose to depict some of the things in the book the way he did.
Unlike most alphabet books, this one really isn't for young children. They might enjoy listening to the rhymes and looking at the pictures, but the real audience for this one is, I think, older school-age children and even adults. It's definitely a book that should be in every Canadian's collection, as it's chock-full of great starting places for more learning about Canadian culture and history.
June 30, 2018
Eh? to Zed is a children's picture book written by Kevin Major and illustrated by Alan Daniel, which is an illustrated alphabet book using words and terms that are Canadian in nature.
Major's text is rather ingenious, albeit slightly difficult to understand. Basically, it is a rhyming couplet of eight words (four for each letter) using the alphabet as a template. Each word is chosen carefully and is related to something Canadian in nature. However some of the words that Major used were either in French or in an Indigenous language that most won't know how to pronounce let alone understand. Daniel's illustrations are well done and represented the words chosen rather well – I just wished that they were labelled, because I was rather lost on some of it.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward it is an alphabet book that uses Canadian examples to illustrate each letter – having it rhyme is a bonus although I wish there were a pronunciation guide to some of the word. In the back, there is a definition, explanation, and reasoning of why these terms were used. The typeface is extremely minuscule and difficult to read, but it is educational.
All in all, Eh? to Zed is a somewhat successful children’s alphabet book using Canadian examples and terms. I just wished it flowed better and the terms and illustrations were easily defined and connected with each other.
Major's text is rather ingenious, albeit slightly difficult to understand. Basically, it is a rhyming couplet of eight words (four for each letter) using the alphabet as a template. Each word is chosen carefully and is related to something Canadian in nature. However some of the words that Major used were either in French or in an Indigenous language that most won't know how to pronounce let alone understand. Daniel's illustrations are well done and represented the words chosen rather well – I just wished that they were labelled, because I was rather lost on some of it.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward it is an alphabet book that uses Canadian examples to illustrate each letter – having it rhyme is a bonus although I wish there were a pronunciation guide to some of the word. In the back, there is a definition, explanation, and reasoning of why these terms were used. The typeface is extremely minuscule and difficult to read, but it is educational.
All in all, Eh? to Zed is a somewhat successful children’s alphabet book using Canadian examples and terms. I just wished it flowed better and the terms and illustrations were easily defined and connected with each other.
July 11, 2016
This book is essentially a rhyming couplet word list in alphabetical order with art work to match. Each word is chosen for it’s representation of Canada. This book might be more appealing to tourists than Canadians. It has very little educational value other than for a brief glance. The difficult words make it a hard book to use as a reader as many children will struggle. As a read aloud it is not overly appealing. In order to maintain the rhythm of the rhyme, one must read faster than a child can take in the images.
Each word is not paired with its image, rather the images are intermingled on the page. This may cause confusion as there are many obscure words a reader may be unfamiliar with. For letter K the words read “Klondike, komatik, kittiwake, kayak”. There is an explanation of why each word was chosen, at the back of the book in minuscule print which many may be unable to read. There are however, no definitions for these words.
Some children might enjoy signing this out of the library for a quick look, but it is not ideal for classroom use and few children will enjoy repeated readings.
Each word is not paired with its image, rather the images are intermingled on the page. This may cause confusion as there are many obscure words a reader may be unfamiliar with. For letter K the words read “Klondike, komatik, kittiwake, kayak”. There is an explanation of why each word was chosen, at the back of the book in minuscule print which many may be unable to read. There are however, no definitions for these words.
Some children might enjoy signing this out of the library for a quick look, but it is not ideal for classroom use and few children will enjoy repeated readings.
July 21, 2015
I really enjoyed reading Eh? to Zed as I sat in a library in Canada during my vacation. Many things were quite new to me and some things made me chuckle.
July 1, 2017
This book is okay. Yes it has a nice variety of words for each letter. However, there were many that I (and the children in my class) did not know. I was hoping for more explanation on each page. The very end of the book has more explanation but unless you read those throughout the story, it does not really help.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews