Starting with the simplest images-apples for A, bowls for B, cat for C-Sara Pinto has taken a magical leap in the concept of alphabet books. Each letter has a door, and behind each door the objects arrange and rearrange themselves so that with every letter the picture becomes more complex. Letter by letter, magical scenes unfold inside the room. With gentle humor and charming design, this lift-the-flap alphabet book transcends the genre to offer something truly unique.
Sara Pinto's The Alphabet Room is an extremely creative and entertaining way to introduce your child to all the letters of the alphabet and just what fun they can produce. The layout of this book is one of its most defining characteristics. The letter of the alphabet is displayed in a huge font on the left page, with a word beginning in that letter directly below it. The right page has a picture of the given word, and is also a flap. Each flap shows the new object in a room, adding to all of the objects already named. It doesn't take long before the room is filled with bright color and crazy commotion.
Your child will love flipping the flaps, as the items and animals in the room are doing something different each time. One shows a dog balancing on apples touching noses with a cat balancing on a bowl; another shows the dog standing in a bowl and playing a guitar while the cat watches on and the fish in the bowl balances on three apples. It only gets crazier from there! You can reiterate letters and their meanings by quizzing you child on the content of each flap picture - do they remember which picture is for 'A' or 'O'? You can also choose to study the pages in any order or any number at a time, if your little one is only up for a few letters that day.
I read through this book with my three-year-old friend, Sam. He doesn't know the whole alphabet by heart, but he does know a few of the letters, and can name all of the pictures. He liked how the objects were often balancing on one another, and has taken to trying this is his play area. Try as I might, I cannot convince Sam that none of his toys will balance on an egg.
--Audra
I really enjoyed reading this book with my girls. It was fun getting to say each object they saw for each letter. It started off with A (of course) and 3 green apples are on the next page. You can lift up the picture of apples and it shows an empty room with only the 3 apples. Next was B. The next page has 2 bowls; a fish bowl and a mixing bowl. Once you lift the little door (the picture), it shows the same empty room with the 3 apples and the 2 bowls. C is for Cat, and when you lift the photo of the cat, it shows the room with the 3 apples, 2 bowls, and cat. Each time items are placed differently in the room. So it's really cool because you can look for each picture again. Both of my girls had a lot of fun with that.
-- Danielle Schmidt, A Delicious Obsession