"A" Isn't for Fox: An Isn't Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Alphabet Series) Book

Experts know that sometimes the best way to teach a child what something is is to teach him what it isn't. Educator Wendy Ulmer applies that principle in her jaunty, out-of-the-box alphabet A isn't for Fox: An Isn't Alphabet. Running through the alphabet, beginning readers are given a letter and then told what the letter topic isn't.

A isn't for box;
it isn't for fox.
A is for ants that
crawl over your socks.

Laura Knorr's colorful, engaging artwork perfectly captures the wit and whimsy behind the alphabet that isn't what it seems but is so much more!

Children's Literature

Readers take an unexpected journey through the alphabet in this fun alphabet book of isn't. Each page begins by saying what the letter is not for: A is not for fox, B is not for kite, C is not for nap, and so forth through the alphabet until W is not for door, X is not for seas, Y is not for fairy, and Z is not for pipes. Of course, each rhyme ends with what the letter is for: ants, bats, cat, and so forth on to woodpecker, xenops (apparently a rare bird in the Rain Forest), yaks, and zebras. The full-page colorful illustrations capture the humor between what the letter is and is not for: the ants wander over the fox, the woodpecker has to create his own door. This would be a great opportunity for teachers and parents to brainstorm letters and beginning sounds with pre-readers and beginning readers. The illustrations are delightful, and the rhymes are usually natural-sounding and fun for children to repeat. Reviewer: Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger