Potluck

by Anne Shelby, Irene Trivas (Illustrator)

Alpha and Betty have a potluck and all their friends (Acton to Zelda) bring appropriate alphabetical food (asparagus soup to zucchini casserole).

Genres: Food, Childrens, Picture Books

1 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. Possibly just a bit dated, with the kids' fashions, but party clothes do look different so ok. High energy, bright colors, adorable children, yummy wholesome foods. Adjectives and verbs as well as nouns for each letter. A book to make even a curmudgeon smile, that a parent could read over and over again, because a child will ask for it often.

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book more than L (2 1/2) liked it. I thought it was a cute way to talk about the alphabet, and liked that it featured foods from different cultures around the world (one featured food per letter). L only asked to read it one time, though, and never picked it up again after the first reading, despite the fact that we had it checked out from the library for several weeks.

[Molly Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potluck by Anne Shelby is a great book to read for lower grade elementary learning the alphabet. The illustrations were especially good in that they represented what type of food each person brought to the potluck. I would use this to help kids remember the alphabet and all of the different types of food there is in the world.

[Zachary McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre K- K poetry
This is a very good alphabet book, it uses a lot of good alliteration and examples of words that start with each letter. Not only are the things they bring related to the letters, but also the descriptive words.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great ABC dinner story

[Pamela Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute! Alpha and Betty call up all their friends to a potluck. Each friend's name starts with the same letter as their dish! Great for teaching alliteration and vocabulary!

[Matt Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

ABC Book
Anne Shelby had a unique and clever way of presenting the ABC's. She used the theme of a potluck dinner. Everyone that came had a name that started with each letter from the alphabet. Each person brought a food that started with the same letter as their name. Shelby was clever in her adjectives and foods so that most of the words in the sentence began with the same letter. For instance, she says, "Christine came with carrot cake and corn on the cob." Her last line of the book is "They ate everything from A to Z." I thought this was a clever way to the end the book because it wraps up the entire book for the kids.

The illustration in this book is very well done. Each kid bringing food to the party had a lot of food, not only for the large number of people coming to the potluck, but also to show the reader what the food is. Some of the pictures are funny like Lonnie who brought a wagon full of lasagna. The pictures go perfectly with the book and help enhance what the author is trying to accomplish.

[Sarah Seasor · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Potluck" by Anne Shelby with pictures by Irene Trivas is about a pair of young sisters who one day decide to have a potluck dinner where all of their friends would come and bring a dish to share. Their friends begin to arrive and bring a dish that starts with the same letter as their name, which i found to be cute. The book also had an element of multiculturalism because it included foods from various parts of the world which is useful for children to learn at an early age. The names and vocabulary used in this picture book are very unique and give the book a nice touch which is one of my favorite parts. I think it is important for children to hear about different names from various cultures early on in life because it removes the possible challenge children may have later in life. I really enjoyed the idea behind this book and would use this for my students to help them learn the alphabet if i were to teach that age group. The illustrations use very warm colors, but the images appear to be made by watercolor paintings and makes the book look aged. I would use for age groups K-2.

[Stanislav242 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great! It lists alphabet from A to Z, with the children’s names and food which starts with the letter, so it makes teaching it easy. E.g “Christine came with carrot cake and corn on the cob” for letter C; all the letters are like this, and if children have trouble pronouncing or writing a certain letter this book is great repetition. Children can practice different letters and sounds, and let’s face it, they love to talk about food so you can keep a conversation going for quite sometime if you are teaching a lesson about it to kindergarteners or preschoolers. It also promotes multiculturalism at early age, with children being different races and doing different things, something they will need to understand when they enter school and later on, workforce.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alpha and Betty decideto have a potluck party and invite 31 of their friends. All the guests, in alphabetic order, bring a dish that match the first letter of their name. The author sometimes makes entire sentences alliterative.

Age/Grade Level: K-2

Instructional Ideas:
-alphabet book
-word choice, specifically, alliteration
-as a class, students could brain storm lists of food that begin with the same letter sound as all names in the class
-students could create alliterative sentences using own names
-class book could be created and published

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It had elements of multiculturalism that could be taught to students at a young age because it discusses different types of dishes different people make. There was also the use of the alphabet and alliterations based off of the individual letters that provides teachers of younger students with more instructional tools. The illustrations can make you hungry too!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute alphabet food book. Each potluck attendee brings a different dish that rhymes with their name, which goes through the alphabet. The foods are fairly whole food, which is nice, no mention of candies or other processed items.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ABC book featuring food brought to a potluck by kids of all different ethnic backgrounds. Verges a little on stereotypes, but that's difficult to avoid when talking about multicultural food. Pictures were a little dated, but still overall a cute book.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and so did my boys! Alpha and Betty decide to have a potluck and all their friends come bearing dishes to go with all the letters of the alphabet, too! Great pictures and great dishes!

[Taylor Wyndham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Potluck is a very colorful book with great drawings. It helps for childern to learn the alphabet through rhyme schemes of different peoples names. The book also shows many different foods of the world and explains what a pot luck is.

[Jordin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books to read to the little ones.