The City ABC Book

by Zoran Milich

Every large city is filled with sights and sounds and lots and lots of words. But have you ever looked at the city itself? At the shapes created by wood, concrete, metal and paint? A keen eye and a little inspiration are all it takes to discover a hidden alphabet among the architecture of a bustling metropolis. The City ABC Book features dramatic black-and-white photographs of urban landscapes with hidden letters boldly highlighted in red. Children will be inspired to take a second look at the world around them as their powers of observation are enhanced, and their imaginations are allowed to soar.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My four year old son loves this book! The best part is that he loves reading it to other people!

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a creative abecedary, allowing for readers to find letters in every day objects, and perhaps even inspiring them to find letters in their everyday surroundings!  With a minimalist sense of design, the red against the monochrome really makes the letters pop while remaining artistic, as well.  Overall, definitely a good read for introducing a young child to the alphabet!

Review cross-listed here!

[Dorothy Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent of the photo collages that spelled names or important words, these black and white city photos contain the letters of the alphabet highlighted in red. Clever and a fun start to looking for letters in the child's immediate surroundings. Favourite photo: the letter V in the sewer grate which is also copied by the stance of the person's shoes waiting at the curb.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The City ABC Book” by Zoran Milich is an early reader’s ABC book that teaches children the letters of the alphabet. What makes this book unique is that all of the illustrations contain each specific letter hidden within them. Each page has a different letter of the alphabet and it would be a great way for children to become familiar with letters.

The illustrations throughout this book are black and white with the exception of bold red letters throughout. Each page is assigned a letter and within the illustrations of everyday landscape (a bridge, fence, ladder, sidewalk etc.) there is the outline of a letter. The letters are big bold and red, so this would be beneficial to a younger or more inexperienced reader who would have difficulty finding the letters without them standing out so much. Along with the letter embedded in the picture, there is also an “example” of what the capital and lower-case letter looks like for reference.

[Makaila Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The City ABC Book" by Zoran Milich takes the reader through the alphabet by displaying random black and white pictures places in the city and outlining the letter that could be made out of something in that place in red. For example, to show the letter "A", the author chose a picture of a door and outlined the window in red because it looked like an "A". This book helps young readers discover that many things can look like a letter, and will most likely have the reader noticing them in their daily lives. By only having the letter be in red and the rest of the picture in black and white puts emphasis on what the reader is suppose to focus on; finding the letter. Milich used actual photographs make the reader understand that letters can be found in everyday life.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The City ABC Book by Zoran Milich outlines in red the letters of the alphabet from photographs taken around the city. Lower and upper case letters appear for each letter below or across from each photo. I especially liked the gatepost i and drainpipe y.

On re-reading this I am increasing my rating. By outlining each letter, Milich makes it easy for pre-readers and readers to locate each letter. Milich does a good job of finding the alphabet in the urban environment, though he does have to resort to a painted Q on the sidewalk to complete the alphabet. I do prefer both upper & lower case letters shown in The City ABC Book.

For ages 2 to 5, alphabet, city, photographs, and fans of Zoran Milich.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of saw this as an artistic find-the-abc in everyday objects coffee table book. The author, who lives in Toronto, gas outlined every letter of the alphabet in red with a black and white background. The result are beautiful photographs. I hope I am able to do something like this with a camera.

[Alnora]

This was a fun book. It's amazing the imagination of authors who come up with creative ideas such as these. I would love to incorporate this with a group of children by taking a tour in thecity and having them find letters too.

[David Atkins]

Teach the citys of the United States using the ABC's