Albert's Alphabet

Albert #1

by Leslie Tryon

Albert the school carpenter has been assigned a task that seems virtually impossible! He has to build an alphabet for the walking path on the school playground. All twenty-six letters! And by three o'clock! How is he ever going to finish on time? Does he even have enough materials?
Luckily, Albert is one clever carpenter. He not only finishes on time, he builds what could be the most ingenious alphabet ever!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Construction

40 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1991

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albert's Alphabet is a book with very little text. For this reason, I assumed it would be a quick read. However, the illustrations are filled with extensive detail that require great attention for full appreciation of the book. The premise is that a carpenter duck named Albert is charged with building an alphabet for a school, all in one day! He resourcefully uses his lumber to build many of the letters and then confronts the challenge of how to build the remaining letters once he runs out of wood. It's fun to observe his methodical process and notice the little ways in which he uses all of the resources available to him.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great preschool aged book or kids learning their alphabet. It's about a goose who has to make each letter of the alphabet for the kids to play on, on the playground. He quickly runs out of lumber and has to be creative to come up with other supplies. It's an awesome book with great illustrations. My kids all love it!

[Jackie Sisley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albert's Alphabet revolves around a goose named Albert who has been tasked by the school principal to create letter shaped playground equipment for the school. This book is imaginative and, save for a letter from the principle and a few sentences at the beginning and end, is a wordless picture book. Little ones can dictate what is happening by looking at the pictures supporting story-telling, vocabulary, and imaginative skills. Tryton employs personification in her charters and focuses largely on problem-solving through the story as Albert runs out of materials and must find other things to make the letters out of. This story is fun and heart-warming and I highly suggest it for home and classroom use.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. Too bad about the prescriptive "here's how to read this" text, especially that it isn't on a page I could just rip out or something. Can that be a feature on kids books, actually? Make that patronizing stuff easily removable?

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good alphabet book...especially for children who like to build things

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

A goose builds the alphabet out of wood. When he runs out in the M and N's, he has to find alternate material to make his letters. He becomes very creative to do so. A-Z book.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story about a goose that constructs the alphabet. My son loved all the pictures.

[Ammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Love This Book. The carpentry and design behind the letters is brilliant.

[Paola Nunez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is DAP for the Pre-K and Preschool. It is very easy and quick to read because it does not have much text. I like how the illustrations have a lot of detail.

[Michelle Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read during a large group story time. Includes alphabet recognition, book would serve great as during a construction theme or as a transition to incorporate open-ended questions.

[Truman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like that the goose worked so hard to do the alphabet, and he also used the stuff that he had.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Albert the goose is a very inventive carpenter. Given the task of creating an alphabet of upright characters for a playground, Albert moves from A to N using big and little pieces of wood and even nails to outline a letter. From O onward, he utilizes a building wall, stones cemented for form the Q, logs, duct pipe, clothesline steel pipe, plumbing works, manicures a tree, and rearranges a building. Probably the most inventive and amusing alphabet book I've read. The more sophisticated or complicated elements may go beyond a young reader learning the alphabet, but the older reader will certainly have fun.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could rate this higher but I can't. Part of me thinks we may have liked it more if we'd read it when Julia was a baby. But another part of me says no way.
There's nothing here. Nothing at all. Write down each letter in the alphabet in a funny way and there you have it, you're kid will have read this book.
The illustrations are okay. The text is non-existant. I wish I could remember titles because we've come across far better books showcasing the alphabet than this. A decent search will turn some up I bet.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a surprise favorite to me. It was part of a storytime kit at our library about tools and my 3 year old son has had me read it over and over since we got it. The mission is simple, if pressured by time and materials, but Albert meets it in fantastic fashion. My son loves saying the letters as we go through and then singing the alphabet on the last page, with lots of giggles around Z. It's a pretty quick read, but lots to look at if you want to linger.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute book! This book was introduced to me at book club. It doesn't have a whole lot of words but the illustrations are wonderful! Albert has to solve the problem of making an alphabet showcase for the elementary playground. The figures he comes up with for the letters is quite creative. I would love to have a copy of this one someday.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This interesting ABC book is centered on a school carpenter who happens to be a goose named Albert. He is given an assignment by the school principal to build an alphabet for the school’s playground. Each page shows Albert constructing the letters of wood until he runs out, but resourceful Albert comes up with some interesting materials to complete his task. A cute story.

[Yates Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a duck that has to make an alphabet on the school grounds. The duck uses all of the materials that it can. It does not waste any materials. This would also be a good book about recycling. It would be good for beginning readers becasue there are not that many words in it.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really creative book that takes you letter by letter through the alphabet. Each letter is "built" by Albert in a very unique way! If you are trying to teach your little one the alphabet or are working on recognizing letters, this presents them in a clever and engaging way.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shape your alphabet

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever Albert uses all the supplies in his workshop to build an alphabet for the school playground.

[Nakitah]

Albert uses supplies in his workshop to build an alphabet for the school playground. This can be used as an activity for students to build the alphabet using their school supplies.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever, inventive, beautifully illustrated.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the creative building in this cute alphabet book!

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightfully creative. Emphasizes building, creative thinking and the ABCs!

[Jaimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book for toddlers learning there abc's who love to build!

[Emily Bernd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book and how it shows what each letter looks like clearly. My 3 year old nephew loves this book, it has helped him recognize his letters.

[Jd Ehringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is very helpful in teaching kids the alphabet. It does it in a creative way that I've never seen before. Would definitely recommend it for any classroom.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not well known, but surprisingly good. A rare picture book that you can study for a long time afterward.