Achoo! Bang! Crash!: The Noisy Alphabet

by Ross MacDonald

A for . . . Achoo?
B for Bump, Bang, and Bop?
C for Crackle, Clank, and Crunch?

This is truly an alphabet with attitude, created by that master of raucous humor, Ross MacDonald. In this hilarious book you'll see clothes ripped off an intrepid game hunter by a ferocious lion ( ROAR! RIP! RUN! ); a little boy who manages to pin the tail on his father, rather than the donkey. ( NO! OH! OOPS! OW! ); and an exceedingly plump Santa being crammed down the chimney ( JINGLE! JINGLE! JINGLE! ).

But wait! There's more! All the words in this book where set in 19th-century wood type and printed in blazing color on a handpress, creating extraordinary visual effects. An endnote accompanied by photographs describes the process and serves as a fascinating introduction to a disappearing craft

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Art

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 2003

About the author

Ross MacDonald has worked as an egg candler, dishwasher, soda jerk, house painter, street artist, paper maker, and printer, but is probably best known as a magazine illustrator. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, and many other publications. He is also the author of the adult humor book In and Out with Dick and Jane, which was awarded a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators.
He lives in Connecticut with his wife, two children, four cats, and a large collection of 19th-century type and printing equipment.

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-1st grade
Point of lolment: The reindeer trying to shove Santa down the chimney accompanied by the J letter with "Jingle jingle jingle/jiggle jiggle jiggle"

How has this book missed everyone's radar? MacDonald provides an imaginative ABC book reliant solely on noises, sounds, and expressions. Not only are the illustrations perfectly complimentary (well, they obviously need to be in an ABC book) but MacDonald mixes up the flow of the text without disrupting the humor. Where a buoyant, rhythmic text might get grating and boring in a book like this, MacDonald is able to provide enough variety and cohesion for a truly stellar ABC book.

[Danica Midlil · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a clever book! A great book for onomatopoeias as well as the great '40s and '50s feel of the illustrations.

[Makenzie F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun and unique way of teaching the alphabet to children. Not only does the book go through the the alphabet but it associates the letter to a sound that could be said or heard. The illustrations sometimes connected from one letter to another Like when the boy was trying to pin the donkey tail on his dad and then did. The letters for that illustration were N and O. Each illustration shows the letter, the sound, and the emotion behind the expression. The font of the letter also play a role in showing the expression of the word.
This book is great for grades 1st through 5th. This book can be used as a great tool for 1st graders as they finalize the understanding of the alphabet but also great for 5th graders as they learn how to read expression in books. I would love to use this book with 2nd to teach how to read emotions in books.
I really enjoyed this book. It was simple but very sweet as it went through the everyday sound effects of life. The illustrations really stood out to me as bright, colorful, depictions of they sound it was portraying.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was fun.
First of all, don't expect a story. It isn't. But the scene unfolding on each page is its own mini story and kids will love dissecting what's going on with all the fun sound effects to help them out. But the real star here is the illustrations, complete with notes in the back about how they were created using actual 19th century wood type and a vintage printing press. Now that's fun. What an original and fun to read book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alphabet picture Book
K-1st
I love the use of sounds to explain different letters. I think it is a great way for student's to see the alphabet in their everyday life. A very good book for new readers!

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Use for a lesson on onomatopoeia.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations. It’s definitely a book that requires imaginative reading on the part of the parent - animated voice, interactive storytelling.

[Jill Culmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Use for onomatopoeia

[Sharon Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! the artwork was so amazing and hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing at the creativity!!

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Achoo! Bang! Crash! The Noisy Alphabet (2003) by Ross MacDonald is just that...a noisy alphabet. With a different letter of the alphabet on each page and hilarious pictures to boot, kids will love this ABC book. All of the words are onomatopoeia and need to be read aloud for full effect. The illustrations are in an older style, sort of like comics.

Themes: Alphabet; Onomatopoeia

Ways to use this with children:
*As mentioned before, this one really needs to be read aloud...to the children or with the children, either way.
*This would be a great picture book to show to middle schoolers who are learning onomatopoeia for the first time. I think it would make an indelible mark on their memories.
*Have students draw their own pictures for some of the onomatopoeia words.

Additional Info:
At the back of the book, MacDonald explains how he used 19th-century wood type to print all of the words in the book. He includes pictures so children will know what he means. Excellent.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positively reviewed. (www.denverlibrary.org)

Of all the alphabet books, this one is arguably not only the most fun, but also the most clever. Ross Macdonald introduces the alphabet in an entirely new way, one that particularly appeals to boys due to the amount of sneezed off and exploded off clothing! The vintage styled illustrations beg for parents and grandparents to curl up with young readers to discuss the alphabet and explore pictures of burping, old men yakking, and other generally revolting and startling sounds.

A great way to discuss the alphabet with kindergarteners. Also works will for art lessons and projects with 2nd and 3rd graders, including printing projects since Macdonald uses authentic 1900s circus-poster type.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review first posted on RedeemedReader

This riotous book is full of noisy words! Onomatopoeia comprises the entire text, making this a perfect read-aloud (and read with) choice for kindergarten and early elementary students. MacDonald’s illustrations have a vintage feel to them which matches the font choices expertly. Backmatter includes a nice explanation of old-fashioned wooden type from the 19th century. MacDonald did indeed use his vintage press for the words in this book and offers up a challenge to young readers: find the one font that is repeated. This book is a slightly older title, but is available in libraries and “used” on Amazon.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The alphabet has never been noisier. Who knew we could make so many wonderful and descriptive words from our alphabet? MacDonald uses watercolor pictures and words to illustrate just how noisy our words can be. Each page is filled with words that make a connection to the noises they make. Cleverly animated pictures tell a story for the child reading the alphabet. A book that will have the children acting out the words, as the alphabet is spoken. Illustrations are life-like and identifiable.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ross MacDonald uses old wood printing techniques and drawings reminiscent of books from the same time period that bring the alphabet to life. Adults and children alike will enjoy reading the nonsense words and onomatopoeia to supplement the hilarious illustrations. Achoo! Bang! Crash! The Noisy Alphabet is a book I would recommend to early readers working on decoding and to readers that want to remember cartoons and books from their own childhood.

[Morgan]

This book was printed using a printing press. It was very art focused but featured lots of sound words. From Bang to Zoom, it had about any you can think of with silly pictures featuring the words.

This book would be fun to have students read aloud. They would get so excited to yell out the words and they would think the pictures were very funny. This book could eb used in grammar to talk about sound words.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

MacDonald uses 19th century woodcut letters and his own vintage-y drawings to bring this alphabetical onomatopoeia extravaganza to life.

I loved the style, my kids thought the illustrations were hilarious, and the photographed tutorial of the vanishing art of letterpress printing at the end was very informative.

[Tiffiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun ABC book, all about noisy sounds. My 3-year-old looooooves it! I knew she would. But she's also afraid of some of the illustrations (strange alien-like creatures). And my 12-year-old thinks one of the illustrations (a man with his bare bottom showing) isn't appropriate. I would have to agree. Kinda weird for a children's book!

[Lori Shook · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I have said before, I have a slight *thing* for ABC books. Well, this one combines onomatopoeia pushing it high to the list of top ABC books! Also uses (and discusses at the end of the book) 19th Century wood typeset which could open dialogue about printing processes.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The baby laughs so much at all the onomatopoeias in this book. For that, it wins 5 stars. You don't have to know English to understand the words. Gosh, I wish I'd known about this book when I was teaching international students onomatopoeias in American literature. Oh well.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for the very young, which is who I think of when I think alphabet book, so I was a little disappointed. But it was something I think older kids, particularly elementary school boys, would like. Good resource for teaching onomatopoeia.

[Maeve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Readers are introduced to the alphabet and all the different noises that could be made with each letter

The illustrations looked a little outdated, but there are definitely children who would love to read this story and all its silliness.

[Brianna Blackwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very visually appealing book that was made with old circus letter type. I like that this book focuses on sounds and can show children what all sounds come from. I did not like that the book does not show the lowercase form of the letters as well though.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the text in the book was hand set and hand printed! Plus the illustrations are really fun and very vintage-inspired. My library's copy isn't in the greatest condition, but I'm still keeping because I love it.

[Kristie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great alphabet story- best for one-on-one sharing; probably wouldn't work well in a group setting.

[Artnoose McMoose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A darling alphabet book featuring letterpress printed wood type incorporated with hand-drawn illustrations. Includes an appendix with photographs of the type and printing process.

Zip! Zoom!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pictures are more oriented to adults, but good interactive book.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic Illustrations!

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

We loved the illustrations and it took the ABC book up a notch with the onomatopoeia.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun use of onamonapia.

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, action packed. The book might have been about noise, but my class was silent listening to all of the clatter! Engrossed and inspired. Loved to guess what sounds would be next.