F-Freezing ABC

by Posy Simmonds

After selling out of the original hardcover edition, this innovative adventure in learning the alphabet is now a Dragonfly paperback.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published November 2, 1995

About the author

Rosemary Elizabeth "Posy" Simmonds MBE is a British newspaper cartoonist and writer and illustrator of both children's books and graphic novels. She is best known for her long association with The Guardian, for which she has drawn the series Gemma Bovery (2000) and Tamara Drewe (2005–06), both later published as books. Her style gently satirises the English middle classes and in particular those of a literary bent. Both of the published books feature a "doomed heroine", much in the style of the 18th- and 19th-century gothic romantic novel, to which they often allude, but with an ironic, modernist slant.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, not a fan of a kid's book using "Shut up" or "Dumbo" 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Christine Meunier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great exploration of the alphabet and various animals in the snow, could have done without the duck saying "shut up" to the cold, complaining animals. Don't fancy my children learning to say that!

[Kim Gagen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I agree with everyone else on this one. The book seems like a kids horror story. An anteater drowning- a plague of insects hiding in an igloo. And then the language… and I quote, “D-Duck… Shut up! Said the duck. Stop moaning!” I know it’s an old book, but I’m annoyed this even came in a book bundle I paid for. I would have given it zero stars if I could have.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

2yo quite liked it. Seemed pretty pointless to me and the upper case irritated me.

[Jessica I. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not a fan of teaching my kids to say "shut up", call other people "dumbo", and be half as ungrateful and rude as the characters in this book. Honestly surprised it's a book at all!

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anteater, a bear, a cat and a duck all search for a warmer place to stay in this A to Z alphabet learning tale. Silly winter fun throughout this learning process.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this for children who have excelled at their ABC's and are ready for a new sort of review for the alphabet. F-Freezing ABC tells a story of different animals who are trying to stay warm in the winter while incorporating all the letters of the alphabet along the way.

I enjoyed how the text was more realistic (as realistic as talking animals could be, I guess) by sounding like the animals were studdering from the cold. For example, the Anteater says, "I-it's a-absolutely ar-ar-arctic!" Hence the title, F-Freezing ABC. But this also may have been a bit overused. This book rates pretty high as an ABC book, but the illustrations weren't the best. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

[Chris Cherney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This alphabet book was published in 1996. Simmonds uses humor and descriptive language to engage the reader. This is a great book to use with K-5 students as an alphabet book and/or informational text.

[Hillary Hayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story about a group of animal friends trying to find some relief from the freezing cold and the misadventures that brings.