Museum ABC

by Metropolitan Museum of Art

Museum ABC introduces more than one hundred works art--using the alphabet!

This unique alphabet book features four works of art from different cultures and periods for each letter of the alphabet. Simple words matched with intriguing illustrations provide an opportunity for endless exploration. Children will be fascinated to discover that a boat, a rose, a tree, and even a window can be so different from one another -- and from the objects they see every day. Adults will love the visual and cultural richness of this alphabetical tour through the Metropolitan Museum's collection.

An informative fact section at the end of the book provides more details about each piece of art and its creator, including art by luminaries such as Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Utagawa Hiroshige, Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet, as well as historic pieces from Greece, Egypt, Italy, China, Japan, India, Iran, and more.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, Nonfiction, Museums, Art and Photography, Juvenile

60 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, (colloquially, the “Met”) is the largest art museum in the United States.

It was founded on April 13, 1870, "to be located in the City of New York, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said city a Museum and library of art, of encouraging and developing the study of the fine arts, and the application of arts to manufacture and practical life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and, to that end, of furnishing popular instruction."

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without sounding like a parrot, but sounding like a parrot, there is this funny thing that happened on my way to my donation basket in my Little Free Library Shed. Two children’s books were donated that were “written” by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first book, which I have also reviewed is called, Museum 123. What makes this particularly interesting is that just a week or so earlier, the book, “All the Beauty in the World” by Patrick Bringley was also donated.

Why interesting? His book shared his experience as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Coincidence?

The book is a fun illustrative teacher of the ABC’s for children. And, the book not only emphasizes each letter in the alphabet, but also shares a word for children to learn. And, then the pictures of art that are displayed on the opposite page, will coincide with the word selected.

Not only will kids have the opportunity to learn the alphabet, and a word associated with the letter they are learning, but they will be exposed to the beautiful art that is a part of the museum’s displays.

There is also an extensive index at the back of the book that identifies the art, that accompanies the letters.

Reading Level – Ages 4 – 6 years – Grade Level – Preschool – 1st Grade

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice ABC book and probably even better for an introductory art lesson.
Each letter is assigned an object (eg, "C is for cat") which is paired with four images of that object, taken from different times and art styles.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one of those children’s art books I love so. I’m not so sure it’s the very best book to learn the alphabet as only capital letters are on each page but it might work for early readers.

The art is wonderful. There are 4 art works for each letter. In the back of the book given are: artist, name of the painting/piece, country, year/circa, and materials used.

Each letter is covered with one word, words that will appeal to children, such as: apple, boat, cat, dance, feet, game, hair, insect, monster, tree, umbrella, vegetable, window, yellow, zigzag, and the contents of the four paintings match the word that goes with that letter.

It’s a great introduction to art and reinforces spelling easy and fairly easy words.

[Angelita Beltran]

There are many ABC books out there. What makes Museum ABC special? It uses actual artwork from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is the 2002 winner of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award. It goes from A to Z and for every letter of the alphabet it uses four different paintings that represent each word for that particular letter. Yes, it uses A for apple, but using four different types of artwork an apple can look quite different. This book uses painting from ancient times to the present. The works of art are from many well-know artist and little-known artist. The mixture of the old with new gives the reader a totally different perspective for the simple words that are used. For example for the letter H, the word they use is hair. They show hair with four different paintings; George Washington, a geisha, an Egyptian queen, and a Victorian woman. All these works art are from different cultures, different time periods, and show totally different hair styles.
This is a good book because it uses four works of arts to describe a word, and it shows how different the same object can be seen and interpreted by people. By using old art and more recent art the reader can see how the perspective on something has changed over time. This is a good book for young children learning their ABCs. This book can open their eyes to and see things in different perspectives. This book can also be used by teacher in the classroom for primary grades. Children can see the how different a single object can be seen. Teachers can give students a group art project. Children can draw/paint the same object and then see how they drawing/paintings are different. The teacher can assign different letters to different groups and the classroom can put their own ABC book together. This is a great book to have at home for younger kids and in the classroom as well. This book gives the traditional ABC book a twist by using different art to represent the letters of the alphabet.

[Jackie Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations !

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

my new favorite abc book

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text and Concept: 5 stars
Art: 5 stars

This alphabet picture book is produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and features art from their vast collection. The simple text lists one word for each letter of the alphabet. The opposing page displays four photographs of the museum's works of art containing that item. The choices of art are varied and stellar. The last few pages of the book list all the art with details for each piece. If I had young children, I would feed them a steady diet of this book's contents.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

See pieces of artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in New York. It's a simple alphabet book, but the artwork is the star. Each last has a corresponding word with four images of artwork. The back of the book shares details for each piece of art.

During storytime, we had a poster of the ASL alphabet in the back. As we read, the audience was invited to sign the ABCs.

2022 storytime theme: International Artists Day

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children’s alphabet book that showcases four artworks with the object named. C - four paintings of cats. Z - zig zags. Even though each artwork showcases the same word, they all look different. Great for introducing young readers to different artists and forms of art. Perfect for open ended Art questions.
Four artists see feet in different ways. Which do you like the most? Why? What emotions or movements do you see/feel? What can you tell me about the perspective or balance of the piece?

[Ashley Marx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the book "Museum ABC" because it displays culture throughout each of the pages. It is important for children to be exposed to art and this book does a great job at that. The illustrations were beautiful and were captivating. I also liked how the author gave a word example for each letter.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun art book to read and look at with your children! It was fun asking Zander - my 5 year old - to pick out his favorite painting of the 4 paintings on each page. Older children might be better able to express why each painting is their favorite. Bonus- It's hard to find good art books for children that are modest. This is one of them.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want Elliot to be exposed to art in fun, age-appropriate ways, so I’m on the look out for books he’d like. This was a fun one we read. Each letter has a theme and four paintings that match the theme. For example, A is for Apple, so there were four distinctly different art pieces that each showed apples

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your typical ABC book. Great for kids and grown-ups alike.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Simple book with each spread containing a letter, a word that begins with that letter, and four pictures of art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that contain that word.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letters of the alphabet paired with items in works of art

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this ABC book! It taught the letters of the alphabet as well as introduce children to works of art -- what better combo to enlarge a child's learning and culture.

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting art book, 20 month old and I really enjoyed it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

We had so much fun looking at this. We did it while we swang on the front stoop.

[Louisa Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful! Love everything except the letter M which features some pretty terrifying monsters.

[Matti Davis]

Title: Museum ABC
Author: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Genre: Alphabet book
Theme(s): Alphabet, Art
Opening line/sentence: A is for Apple.
Brief Book Summary:
This book goes down the alphabet and says a word that starts with the letter. Then is shows a bunch of pictures chosen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that go along with the word that was chosen.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Horn Book- Museum ABC
60 pp. Little 2002. ISBN 0-316-07170-6
(3) PS In classic alphabet-book style ("A is for Apple"), each capital letter is presented on a white page. On the facing page are four pictures of the named object--details from works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. The art is varied and sometimes surprising--a sunset, glowing windows, candles, and a cannon firing represent "light." The works of art are identified at the back of this handsome book.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
CLCD- Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly) Images fine and funky accompany each letter of the alphabet in three noteworthy offerings. Museum ABC from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, announces “A is for Apple” while, opposite, a full-color spread divided into quadrants presents the evidence with details from Roy Lichtenstein’s Red Apple, a detail from Paul C zanne’s Apples and two other works from the museum’s collection. “N” features the noses of Giorgio de Chirico (a detail from his Self-Portrait) and Nefetari Kneeling in Adoration, a detail from the subject’s Egyptian tomb, among others. Back matter provides further information about each artwork. (Sept.) (Publisher: Little Brown; Time Warner (Boston Mass.) (London), Published: 2003.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
These reviews were spot on. They both described the book perfectly as well as telling about the great pieces of art in it. The art is really phenomenal and it adds to the book in the best way.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The pictures on each of the pages that correspond to the letter help to show the audience what the words mean. This is great for younger readers to see the words and then see the pictures that go along with it. Alliteration is also used for matching the letter of the alphabet with the word that goes with all of the pictures.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
This book would be great for teaching the alphabet. It not only shoes one picture that goes along with the word that matches with the letter in the alphabet but many. The pictures also would help to add to the students’ culture and show them different things they have never seen before.

[Hyeonjeong Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Reaction - I really like this book because of its ways of introducing ABCs are very interesting. This book shows the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to explain alphabets. Personally, I really like going to museums and seeing their collections. When I was young, my family went to museums at least three times per a month. I learned history, arts, and new language through the experiences. Thus, as a teacher, I would read this book to children so that they can learn ABCs as well as see the collections. It would enhance their language capacities as well as senses of arts.

Purposes- I would recommend this book to kindergarteners.
- This is an information book, which is appropriate for ABCs' learners, kindergartners. As a non-fiction and information book, its contexts are well-organized enough to be easily read and understood. In addition, the size of fonts is big and each alphabet has different colors, children would recognize each letter and its different shape visually.
- In this book, if one alphabet is on the left side, the next one is on the right side after turing over a page of the book. So, before children turn it over, they can see that the sequences of those alphabets. For example, the first letter, A, is on the left side, and when I turn over a page, I can see the next letter, B, is on the right side. Thus, if I hold the middle page, I can see the order of A and B. This is the most outstanding characteristic that makes this book connected to a language curriculum.
- As implied in the title of this book, this book includes the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For example, on the left page, the letter C is written with a phrase, "is for CAT.". Then, there are four cat paintings on the right page. When children see the paintings, they would point at each piece and repeat the word, "cat" for four times. Also, when they see a cat in their real lives, they would say, "cat" and it would remind them of the first letter of the word, "c".
- Each letter of the alphabet has four works of art from different cultures and different periods. Children would see characteristics of different cultures from various works of art.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An alphabet book filled with wonderful details from works of art. Each letter of the alphabet is associated with a word that begins with that letter (except for the letter X, which is associated with "eX"). On the page opposite to each letter and its word are four details from works of art that illustrate the concept of each word. The works of art are of various styles and media (e.g. oil paints, wool yarn, fabric, and wood). This book would be a useful tool not only for instruction about the alphabet and words, but also for showing children different types of art. It would make a lovely addition to a child's library.
EXTRA INFO: Words for vowel letters use the short sounds of the vowels. The word for the letter M is "monster." The corresponding artwork could prove to be frightening to some little ones.

[Jodysegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leafing through lovely reproductions of some of the world's finest art makes learning the ABC's fun and fulfilling. Each page offers a visual treat for children to pore over identifying all the different images that start with a letter. They will also enjoy exploring the different styles of art and artists in the museum collection.

SLJ: Clear reproductions and carefully chosen details make this an exciting introduction to diverse artistic styles and eras.

Kirkus: For anyone interested in developing the visual vocabulary of a small child, this is the way to do it.... A treat for anyone, but particularly for art lovers and their budding connoisseurs. If it were in a bigger format, one might be tempted to keep it on the coffee table.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has grown with us, and it's been amazing to see how Jackson's relationship with each word has changed, as he learns more and more words. At first, as an infant, he just liked the colors and shapes, and the sounds of the words. As he's learned what an Apple is, and an Egg, and Hair, and Light, and Feet, and a Kiss, and all those simple (and not so simple) concepts, he loves the book on a whole new level. For each letter, there are 4 illustrations from the museum collection - each one different, with a pretty good attempt at multi-culturalism (not just european paintings - although mostly that's what they are). Beautiful paintings. Jackson especially loves the "D" page with the Dance paintings!

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one of those children’s art books I love so. It isn't the best book to learn the alphabet as only capital letters are on each page but the art is wonderful. There are 4 art works for each letter. In the back of the book given are: artist, name of the painting/piece, country, year/circa, and materials used.
Each letter is covered with one word, words that will appeal to children, such as: apple, boat, cat, feet, monster, tree, and the contents of the four paintings match the word that goes with that letter.

It’s a great introduction to art and reinforces the alphabet and spelling easy words.

[Nashiea Edmiston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Wow! Wow! I love this book. Yes, it may not be the most effective alphabet book out there (I have read quite a few), especially since it does not have lowercase letters, however, I am overjoyed to have found such a book that exposes young children to pieces of artwork. Each page in this book showcases one letter and four pieces of artwork (all very different) that focus on the same subject, i.e. apples. The back of the book has information about each piece of artwork which is just brilliant. Love this series, there is also a Museum 123 and a Museum Shapes book that are equally as good!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful addition to my ABC book collection! The idea of highlighting different genres and works of art for each letter of the alphabet is fantastic! To be able to compare and contrast different styles on every page is a great introduction to art and the alphabet. This is a beautiful book to take your time with! My only complaint is I wish the art was credited on each page. It is credited in the end—as shown in the final photo I shared. But I’d love to have that information on the page instead of flipping back and forth. But that is a very minor quibble.

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first alphabet book (as a parent) - based on Kelly Jo's recommendation within the Children's Books Group.

A lovely introduction not only to the alphabet but also to some fantastic artwork. Parenting sometimes highlights those areas of life you have left by the wayside - for me that is art and music - hopefully I'll learn about these through teaching X-man!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great ABC book with examples of whatever word has been chosen in famous works of art. It would be fun to take to a museum or after having been to a museum so the kids could try to identify different ways things are represented in art. Not the best ABC book (Hidden Alphabet is one of my favorites now), but a nice introduction to fine arts and an easy enough ABC for young readers.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. The close up pictures are varied and beautiful. If I had edited this book, I would have chosen one picture and shown both the whole picture and a close up of one item that starts with the letter. The close ups are beautiful on their own, but as part of the whole artistic masterpiece are much more striking. Some of that striking beauty was lost by using only close-ups.