Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears and Other Amazing Alphabet Anecdotes

by Valorie Fisher

Explore twenty-six amazing alphabet worlds, where every picture tells a tale! Meet Alistair, an alligator with an alarming appetite for acrobats; Igor, who sells irresistible...invisible...ice cream; and Holly, happily at home in her handbag. Visit Violet on vacation with a view of a volcano, marvel at Mario's mechanical moustache machine, and daydream with Dot about dainty dump trucks. Children and adults alike will be delightfully dazzled by Valorie Fisher's creative and imaginative miniature worlds, as they have fun finding familiar objects all the way from A to Z.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncle Upton's unusual utensils were unbreakable, unforgettable, and utterly useless.

Work your way through the alphabet with a series of assemblage-art photos in this delightful book.



The stories are fun, and surprising. I particularly liked Igor's invisible ice cream parlor, which features flavors like Vanishing Vanilla, and Transparent Toffee.

AND, just when you think the book is over, there's a two-page list of objects to look for in each picture. Hours of fun for all ages, even old gals like me.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the quirkier alphabet books I've read—the cover and title really give an accurate idea of what's inside. My son and I loved it. It's so fun to go through the pictures and find all the objects that start with the different letters. Definitely not your average alphabet book!

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing accomplishment of alliteration for the alphabet!
This alphabet book by Fisher is a silly surprise of large square photographs of toy figures acting out an alliterative letter sentence. The photos take up almost the whole page with large text of one sentence. In each sentence, the highlighted letter is featured in a color while the rest of the text is black to emphasize the letter of the alphabet. The compositions are whimsical and relate to the sentence with some surprises. One discovers, while reading, that there are other objects in the picture that also are spelled with that same letter. At the end of the book, the reader discovers a list of items to hunt for! What fun! This book is meant for preschoolers but can easily be a lesson on alliteration for elementary and possibly even middle schoolers. Older students can create sentence collages of words from magazines that all begin with the same beginning sound. Older writers can also analyze the imaginative sentence structure. "Trust Trevor to tell you, typing on a trapeze was terribly tricky." Also, this picture book is nice for developing vocabulary through context and encouraging a love of words.

[Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

#TongueTwister for introducing Alphabets #Wordplay at new level #YoungReaders #PictureBook #BookReview #ChildrensBooks #amreading

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want this one for my own kids!

[Shiralea Woodhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just thought I'd add this book because my kids have always liked it and it is a great book for a kindergartener learning letters/sounds. It has a funny photo (of scenes with miniatures) for each letter of the alphabet where you can try to pick out all the things that start with that letter. I checked it out for my kindergartener, but my older kids were having fun with it too - even though they've seen it before.

[Kristie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For each letter of the alphabet, there is one descriptive sentence with lots of alliteration. A look-and-seek activity is at the end of the story and gives children the opportunity to search the pictures more closely.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an alphabet book with alliteration, photos, and an"I Spy" feel. There is a separate photo for each letter of the alphabet and a tale told with alliteration. At the end of the book, the reader will find a list of all the alphabet items to find in each picture.

[Jennifer Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book to look at! We love looking through the photo and trying to find all of the items that begin with the letter of the page. The alliterative sentences for each letter are quirky and fun, too.

[Meghan]

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it would be really good to use in a classroom when you are focusing on alliteration. Every page has an alliteration on it which makes it even more interesting. This would probably be good for older readers, since some words younger readers would not know.

[Robin Gassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that helps teach the alphabet and its sounds. It captivates the attention of the children as they search for the items listed at the end that are in each picture. It's great that this book is educational and entertaining.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My six-year-old boy, a die-hard letter-lover, was amused by about two-thirds of this book. He started to lose interest around Q, though. I just found it kind of weird -- which is not necessarily bad.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute alphabet book using toys as illustrations with funny sentences full of alliteration for each letter. Other items beginning with that letter are hidden in the scene. Though some letters had very few extra items, it’s a fun way to help children learn.

[Betty Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great "I Spy" type book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is Vladmaster meets Little People street art. Every page is a carefully composed scene of a tiny otherworld. I loved it. And yeah, kids might like it to (?).

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this alphabet book for its fun and creative set ups using small objects and witty sentences.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This caught my eye in the children's section at the library and I had to check it out to get a closer look.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

REALLY delightful photographs, and fun phrases for each letter -- I think this would go well at storytime, but it'd be especially delightful for a kid to sit and pore over the photos.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book might make you think that:
Linda loves learning letters.
Or
Timothy taught Tammy the true “T.”
See the alphabet in pictures and words.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Spy meets alphabet book in this alliterative-filled title with items hidden in the pictures for each letter. Some are quite challenging so the key at the back of the book is GREAT!

[Karen]

s.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky and imaginative alliterated alphabet book. I'm confused at the title...it's not really about Ellsworth's electric ears...that just happens to be the page on the letter E.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a lot of fun for reading aloud. It's a great picture book for teaching the alphabet, and it has extra fun for kids at the end, where the author gives a list of objects on each letter/page for them to find!