The Furry Animal Alphabet Book

I thought this book was one of the best of the Jerry Palotta Alphabet series. This book is not intended for the pre-school crowd although some young children would love it. It is intended for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders who are learning animals. Since 3rd graders generally learn animals in a unit in school, this book would work wonderfully with them. The book focuses on more obscure and different animals because the audience for this book already knows about many basic animals and wants to know more complex information. Animals, especially mammals are living things kids can relate to easily so that makes this a great book. The writing is fun and face paced and the jokes take you by surprise. I teach ESOL students who are learning a new language and the names of animals among other things. These books help me reinforce the alphabet and introducing more complex material to them. I highly recommend this books. It's good to know something of the world around them.

I think any bright preschooler would enjoy this book, though it is definitely more about animals than about the alphabet. My four-year-old daughter absolutely loves it, and walks around the house spouting amazing trivia ("Did you know that the golden lion marmoset is a new world monkey? Old world monkeys are from Africa and Asia, but new world monkeys are from North America or South America. I live in North America, so I am from the new world.") As an item of interest for Jews, how many books for kids mention the hyrax? Not many, though the hyrax is one of the non-kosher animals specifically mentioned in the Torah. Can't beat that.

I have to disagree with the previous reviewer. My kids loved this book (and another in this series, The Icky Bug Book) precisely because it was so quirky. This is not really a book to teach the alphabet. It's more an assemblage of odd and interesting animal facts. My zoologist-daughter spent many nights examining the illustrations of these previously unknown animals. There are plenty of other books around about kittens and ducks and other familiar animals. That's what makes this book about aye-ayes and hyraxes so appealing!

My 20 month old son received this book as a gift. Though he is too young to "read" the book, he absolutely loves looking at all of the wonderfully illustrated animals. While reading the book to my son, he and I both learn a great deal about animals we had never heard of, from Aye-Aye to Zorilla. This is a book that will teach my son for many years to come.