P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever
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Average rating4.3
Turning the traditional idea of an alphabet book on its head, P is for Pterodactyl is perfect for anyone who has ever been stumped by silent letters or confused by absurd homophones. This whimsical, unique book takes silent letter entries like "K is for Knight" a step further with "The noble knight's knife nicked the knave's knee." Lively illustrationsprovide context clues, and alliterative words help readers navigate text like "a bright white gnat is gnawing on my gnocchi" with ease. Everyone from early learners to grown-up grammarians will love this wacky book where "A is for Aisle" but "Y is definitely not for Why."
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This is such a fun, weird book. Some pages work better than others though, but it's all enjoyable.
One of the first books printed in the American colonies was The New England Primer, filled with catchy lines like “In Adam's Fall / We Sinned All.”
Since that time, many alphabet-type books have been published in the same – or similar – vein. One of the latest is P Is for Pterodactyl, which carries the subtitle, The Worst Alphabet Book Ever which doesn't seem that complimentary, but when it includes lines like:
” is for Jai Alai.
” is for Ewe.”
U is not for You.
Some examples are great, but I feel like the book misrepresents English. English will absorb some words from other languages, like most English speakers will understand some French words, eg beaucoup, oui, quiche, and even the acronym of RSVP. The book also uses quite a few Spanish words as examples, which I think are great, but often ‘j' is more like 'y', why wasn't that discussed?
Ewe, eulogy, pterodactyl, psychic, you, and why were some great examples, and I liked that they covered the Greek root for pterodactyl in the glossary.
I love alphabet books, I also love pointing out inconsistencies of language (there's an ‘l' in half, so weird).
Also it's my understanding that aeon is British and eon is American.
