ABC Word Book

by Richard Scarry

Colorful illustrations of special events serve to help the small child recognize basic words

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals

61 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

RICHARD SCARRY is one of the world's best-loved children's authors EVER! In his extraordinary career, Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which have never been out of print. His books have sold over 100 million copies around the world, and are currently published in over twenty languages. No other illustrator has shown such a lively interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. Richard Scarry was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in 2012.

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this would be a good choice for my son, who, at 2 1/2, is just starting to learn to identify his letters. Like many of Richard Scarry's works, it is a fun, engrossing book, with busy pages full of interesting and colorful illustrations. Gavin can stare at these for a long time, looking over all the little details.

My complaint lies in the way it presents the letters, and the difficulty may be caused by a reader who is just too young to fully understand the intricacies of spelling. Unlike many alphabet books, the pages don't just feature words that start with the letter in question, but also ones that include that letter. Therefore, "apple" is on the "A" page, but so is the word "potato." The featured letter is always highlighted in red, but my poor confused little boy kept saying things like "A is for potato," which made his Momma cringe. Whether it's something instinctual or something that is accidentally imparted in the learning process, toddlers seem to want to latch onto the initial sounds in words, and I had a hard time redirecting my son's attention.

I had some difficulty deciding whether to give this book 3 stars or 4, but I opted to go with the higher rating, merely because I'm aware that the fault may be with the reader, not with the text (not that there's anything wrong with my "perfect" child, of course! ;) ). I'm thinking about putting this book away until Gavin's a little older, and trying it again when he's starting to actually write and spell.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how I taught by babies. Ryan started reading on his own one day at age 4 and plunged ahead from there. I had no idea he could read, but I did point out words with pictures for years. So it must have done some good.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the Richard Scarry Books are always good, this one is a little over stimulating. The letters are great as are the words to learn the letters. BUT it is just a little too much for little learners. This might be more for nostalgic parents.

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit overwhelming for me. I liked the illustrations but when reading to my kids I know they got bored. Not a traditional alphabet book so may be a bit confusing for early readers.

[Lauren Singer Trakhman · Rating 2 out of 5]

We love this author and all things alphabet in this house but this book has some issues. Each page is dedicated to a letter, except there are also pages for “Ch”, “Th”, and “Sh”. Why? Also, every letter gets 2 full pages, except for A, which gets four. Why?!

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Richard Scarry books.

[Raven Cleveland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each double page spread in this book is packed with words starting, finishing, or including a specific letter of the alphabet. The letters are highlighted in blue to emphasize the learning point.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic I read over and over again as a child.

[Norbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scarry is the best

[Robu-sensei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a classic like Dr. Seuss's ABC Book, but still a worthy addition to the young reader's alphabet-learning repertoire. Each letter (plus the clusters ch, sh and th) is illustrated with many people, things and actions featuring the letter, though not necessarily beginning with the letter. Every instance of the featured letter in the text and labels appears in magenta.

I'm sure that when I was little we had a version of this book in which on each page there was one instance of the capital and lower-case letter that was not colored. Then, at the end, all the unlabeled letters go into a huge pot of alphabet soup. Did I just dream it? My childhood didn't overlap the 1960s that much, so hallucinogens weren't likely involved in these memories.

[Shayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about the ABC's. It provides all the ABC's plus some extra.
I love this book! It has great illustrations! And if you look at say the A page, all letter A's are highlighted so children can see them in tons of different words. There are lots of things going on, on each page. The characters are hilarious, and this story tells you about a family of cats life, and other creatures in a creative way. It is the best learning book ever!
I would use this book with my children! They would learn and have fun at the same time. They would love the pictures and they would learn how to read the words. They would also identify different letters of the alphabet.

[Ryan Vignetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

ELAGSEKRF1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of
print. d. Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the
alphabet.

Not my favorite book for teaching ABCs but it has a lot of words that children are likely to recognize. It is also kind of over the top. It is hard to read this book to an entire classroom. An activity with this book would have to be short and simple.

Students will be read the book as a group.While reading students can think of any words they think should be in the book. Then students can draw a picture of something that they did not see in the book that they would have liked to see and write the letter that it starts with.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute book to help children learn the letters. I read the book just to pass the time before bed. I needed something that was light and easy plus it has been on my shelves for so long I figured it was about time I read it.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this book as a little girl:) It covers all the letters as well as some clusters. My children learned a lot from reading it aloud and they spent hours looking at the detailed illustrations. Yours will too. A classic!

[Erik Levin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mycket trafikolyckor. Märkligt med massa ord som inte börjar på respektive bokstav, utan det är t.ex. under bokstaven L: "brevbäraren halkade och breven flög ut". Inte en fras som skriker "L" direkt. Passar kanske bättre för barn som redan kan bokstäverna, snarare än att lära sig ABC från början?

[Kathleen]

I think this would be more appropriate for a preschooler than a toddler. For that reason, I am refraining from adding a star rating.

[Mckinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I 'read' this hours on end.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mad, mad world of Richard Scarry is all here. Beware, it's not a phonics ABC.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a storytime book but could be used to slowly teach ABCs to a child. I like that it highlights both capital and lowercase letters and uses them in a sentence.

[Pinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn your ABCs and the words they make up.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for recognition of letters in words.