Aleph

by Janik Coat

A funky large-format first book of words and pictures.

Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet—or maybe a nickname for a toy elephant.

Through powerful graphic images, contrasting colours and a thoughtful progression, Aleph moves from basic shapes and familiar objects to a wider world, full of story, character and wonder.

Janik Coat’s unforgettable illustrations are perfect for sharing with babies—big, simple images with instant appeal.

Genres: Picture Books

128 pages, Hardcover

Published March 5, 2019

About the author

Janik Coat is an author, illustrator, and graphic designer. She works extensively with agencies, collectives, and various French publishers. She is a frequent guest speaker at fine art schools and regularly exhibits her work in galleries. She lives in Paris.

Reviews

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky twist on the 'first words' format for babies and toddlers and where others may stray toward the traditional and expected, Aleph embraces the deliciously surreal. The images are big, often falling off the page, with more than a hint of those thick felt-tip pens about them, and cover everything from a circle through to a toucan. Every now and then named characters- Popov, Romi, Cyrus and Aleph - appear for their own little moment, before disappearing again. It's a weird lovely and kind of spectacular mixture of modernism, with a distinct hint of the old masters about it. There's more than a touch of Matisse in Coat's handling of line and colour for example.

What I loved about this is that there's some sort of narrative coherency - a big thing to ask of a book of this nature - but there is. Chick goes to cat goes to car and then toucan. Words echo each other aurally or thematically or sequentially. It's not consistent - bunny / cupcake / wolf - but then, in those sequences, shape or colour picks up the narrative bat. There's a lot of care under the surface of this, and it shows. There's also a lot of opportunity to extend the images in diverse directions - there's a lovely page with a baby's dummy on it, for example - which the list of words names as 'shhh' rather than 'dummy' or something along that line.

Aleph would be a literally perfect gift to a young reader, but it's also got a substantial appeal to those interested in the power of illustration for this age-group. It uses a rather unusual neon tone throughout, giving the whole book this quality of being barely contained within the page. I loved it. It's distinct, it's unusual and it's fun.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

[Bookrapt (Est. 1983) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many books published by Gecko Press, Aleph is a bit quirky. Intended for children from 1 to 3 years, at first it seems to be a simple book of shapes - circle, square, triangle, diamond, but as we progress through the book we come across a tree, a hug and a princess. Most pages are wordless, allowing room for discussion as to what the pictures represent but there are also four named animal characters throughout the book.

Picture books of this type are usually board books, sized for small hands and only containing a few pages. Aleph breaks all these 'rules' - it is large, has paper pages and lots of them. This is a book for an adult and child to share with the pictures sparking wondering, conversations and stories. The large format means the beautifully simple pictures can also be large, making it ideal for very young children.

Reviewed by Penny Guy (Bookrapt)

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful and striking illustrations with various shapes take young readers through a series of images starting with Aleph, which could be an adorable elephant or a letter or word, and ending with a heart. Many youngsters will be interested in perusing the book as they try to identify what each of these images might be. Thank goodness--for me at least--there is a page at the end of the book that identifies each one. I'm not sure that most readers will be aware that Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but it might be good to discuss this with them or point it out. This will have more child appeal than appeal for adults. The unusual images on the cover will draw readers in, for sure.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very striking, engaging use of shape and color.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great big-format picture dictionary for the very young with large, bold graphic images and contrasting colors.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple illustrations with a simple but dynamic color palate. Would be a nice conversation starter with a young child.

[Tara]

Salt Lake County Library.
Cottonwood Heights,Utah