B is For Bluegrass: A Kentucky Alphabet

Discover America State By State

by Mary Ann Mccabe Riehle, Wes Burgiss (Illustrator)

Mary Ann McCabe Riehle offers readers, young and old, the opportunity to take a horseback ride through the rich history and beautiful landscape of the Bluegrass State. From A to Z, McCabe Riehle's rhyming verse and interesting sidebar text will impart unique facts about Kentucky's spirited heritage, while Wes Burgiss' colorful illustrations are the next best thing to actually spending a week or two exploring the great state yourself.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, History, Geography

40 pages, Hardcover

First published November 12, 2002

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for people of all ages! Preschoolers can listen to the short poems. Older readers have more information on each page, and there is a short quiz at the end, for comprehension & memory!

[Carly Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is not from Kentucky, but is planning on teaching in Kentucky this book was extremely beneficial to read. In fact I would suggest that anyone who lives in Kentucky, whether they are a teacher, nurse, policeman, etc. should read this book. I think this book is appropriate for all elementary grade levels, for you will see there are a few different reading levels throughout. Each letter has a 1-2 sentence summary that is written with rhythm and rhyme about the letter and its corresponding word. It then continues into a paragraph on the next page regarding the history of each letter and its meaning, in a very well written way. For example A begins with “An artist named Audubon starts us off with A. He painted many beautiful birds- ones that wont fly away!” The page right next to this has more imagery of Audubon, and goes into a 2 paragraph summary about the artist, his paintings, and his history. This pattern continues throughout the entire book, which makes the content extremely engaging. So engaging that I, who cannot get into history, would recommend this book to anyone who lives in Kentucky. Because of both parts, several grade levels can enjoy this read. Early elementary students, may not be able to read it themselves, but would enjoy the imagery and information through a read aloud.

I think there could be a lot of fun activities that can go along with this read for each grade level. When kids get to upper elementary, they could focus on a state other than Kentucky, and write their own ABC book for that state. They then could display their books and have the class host a state fair. It’s an entertaining, engaging way to really expose children, and even adults, about different aspects of the states and enrich them in the culture. All in all this is a great book to include for each elementary grade, at any point throughout the year.

[Brittany Sands · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's a great read for students in the state to get to know their region better, which short, rhyming pages, but off to the sides of each page, there are also larger paragraph readings for fun facts about what the letter stood for! My only complaint with this book would be that the graphics could have been better (the one for KFC was a bit awkward and the Daniel Boone representation had, "Daniel killed a bar" carved into the tree?) for some of the letter representations and the text suggests the Henry Clay statue is in the Capital building still, when that has since been removed as of last year, I believe. A fun activity to go alongside this reading and to help students think critically about what they read, incorporating use of the alphabet, would be to have them come up with their own Kentucky alphabet based upon their own associations with the letters!

Lastly, the book had a companion mini quiz sheet at the back which would be perfect for checking retention and comprehension from the reading with students.

[Grace Glenaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "B is for Bluegrass" by Mary Ann Mccabe Riehle is a great ABC book for kids to learn more about the state of Kentucky. I am not originally from Kentucky, and this book helped me gain new knowledge about this state. I plan on teaching in Kentucky, and I feel like this book is going to be a great asset to me in the future. This book as good, clear visuals because it's more pictures and not hand drawings. I also like that with every alphabet letter comes with a paragraph or two about what it is. I rated this book a 4/5 because I do think that there is possibly a few too many words, and I think this would be a pretty difficult read for younger children. I think a lot about kids attention spans, and I feel throughout this book, they would eventually get lost. Something I loved about this book was at then end, there was a 15 question evaluation, which also provided the answers! That is a great way to test the readers, and see how well they listened and understood the book. I overall thought this was a great book, and an even better way to learn more about the state of Kentucky.

[Alyssa McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"B Is For Bluegrass: A Kentucky Alphabet" by, Mary Ann Mccabe Riehle, is one of my new favorite ABC picture Books. I gave this book 4 stars because I absolutely love the detail images and the terms used for each letter. I loved how the words rhymed and the pictures gave clues to what the letter was standing for. I know ABC books are more for young children learning their letters however, I think to fully understand each term it might be more appropriate for older children. Overall, I think it would be great teaching points or spark interest in children to learn more about the local history of Kentucky. It talks about things many children will already know about like the Kentucky derby. Also, things children might not know as much about like the different Governors that has led the state. If I end up teaching in Kentucky, I would love to use this and refer back to when learning more about our state and it's history.

[Lauren Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because for me, I'm not from Kentucky but I go to school here and it was cool to see some of the places I've heard about but never been to in a picture book while teaching kids the ABC'S. For an example for the letter M it has Mammoth Cave. I've never been to Mammoth Cave but I have heard so much about it and recognized it.
I liked this book because it gives you some of Kentucky's history while being educated on Kentucky itself and learning the ABC'S all at once! Highly recommend this book for any classroom even outside of Kentucky to educate students and families on the different states.

[Brooke Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

B is for Bluegrass is a great book that goes through the Alphabet A-Z by using different examples of people, places, and things in the state of Kentucky. Not being from Kentucky, I learned new things about the state that I didn't know before even though I attend school at UK. I think this a great book for Kentucky schools to implement in their classrooms. While learning the alphabet, students from the state of Kentucky are also learning new facts and history about the place they live. I find this to be a very creative way of helping students memorize the alphabet. Every state could benefit from having a book similar to this for children to learn about the state the come from.

[Liz Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liz Good
B is For Bluegrass: A Kentucky Alphabet by Mary Ann McCabe Riehle
B is For Bluegrass: A Kentucky Alphabet is a very cute book that was a little bit hard to find. It uses lots of rhyming, which I love, and gives the reader a taste of the Bluegrass. This book would be very useful to teach the alphabet and I recommend it for children ages 5-10. The illustrations might be my favorite part of the book because they are so colorful and full of life. Not only would this book be wonderful for teaching the alphabet, it also provides reader with a lot of history.

[Reece Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect book that takes you through the alphabet and special features about Kentucky. I would use this book to teach younger students about the Alphabet or I would use it in upper elementary to talk about geography and information about Kentucky as the book discusses some of the state symbols. Along with this, you can just read the alphabet words but the author also induced side panels that went more into detail about the topic of that page. The illustrations in this book are also vibrant and bring the book to life.

[Chancela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fell in love with this book before I even opened it! Upon opening it, I was thrilled to see the facts about each topic. It ties in history, science, and interesting facts about each letter. This would be a great book for elementary students in Kentucky to know more about their state, but also for any other elementary (or above) students to have some background information about when they are studying Kentucky.

[Becca Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute book for anyone from Kentucky or wanting to learn more about the beautiful state! It has facts about all aspects of Kentucky that are very informative and interesting. This book would be great for students to read during any lesson about Kentucky history!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning about Kentucky.

[Marissa Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This super fun, easy-to-read picture book takes readers on a tour across our great state of Kentucky! From B for Bluegrass to R for Run for the Roses, there is much to be discovered about Kentucky, even for a native. The illustrations in the book are relatable to the letter and topic that they are representing. The illustration representing Z for Zoo is a wonderful collage of wild animals, children and their parents, and the shark tunnel at the aquarium, while J for Jockeys is a close up of a jockey in blue. Accompanying each verse is a description of the word that each letter represents, giving the history and place in Kentucky importance. This book would be perfect to read to a group of elementary aged students. In a lesson on Kentucky history, I would read the book, but leave out the summary of the word, allowing students to go back into the book later and read more about each word. I would have the students pick their favorite Kentucky word and write about how it is important to Kentucky.

[Tara Mensing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book of the Alphabet having to do with Kentucky. Apparently there's a book like this made for every state. Being from Kentucky myself, this book touched on Kentucky's unique sites or people important to the state's history. The illustrations are beautiful! Though it is a book of the alphabet, the book has lots of text including history elaborating on each aspect. So the short rhyming phrase for each letter could be read by beginning readers and the extra information on the side bar could be used by more fluent readers of 3rd, 4th or 5th grade, especially helpful for a state's history project or paper.

[Melissa Housholder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book that gives every letter in the alphabet a spot in the state of Kentucky. Also gives great historical insight to the things it gives the letters to. I think it is fabulous to have a book like this to give meaning to things that are close to home. Also there are a lot of things about Kentucky that you don't know just from living here. Great historical book.

[Katie Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book focuses on the interesting facts of Kentucky. McCabe Riehle uses the alphabet and rhyming verses with interesting sidebar text that present unique facts about Kentucky's spirited heritage.
I would use this book in a history of Kentucky lesson.

[Melissa Sommer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was so creative. It goes through the alphabet and for each letter is tells an interesting fact about something in Kentucky. This book will be a good tool for a state project or lesson.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is beautiful and the historical information interesting, but the verses leave much to be desired.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book and the rhymes for each letter are short and to the point. The sidebars with more detailed information on each topic are great additions to each page.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

pictures, history, facts, information and ideals about kentcky

[Amber Pound · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for geography lesson, all about Kentucky and includes activities.

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to my mother, who has Alzheimer's - she enjoyed it greatly!