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lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
Cute book that will be perfect for teaching both the number 8 and animals. Biggest quibble? Too small a font and the information about the animals could have been a little more expansive.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
5.0
This really is a unique concept book. Mostly alphabet book, a little bit counting book, and part informational text. The additional information about each animal featured that is included in the back of the book, really has some unique information in it!
heisereads's review against another edition
3.0
Alphabet, animals, and search & find all in one book.
stenaros's review against another edition
3.0
Read for Librarian Book Group
An "animal" alphabet that includes many creatures who are not actually animals. This brought out my most annoying "exact words" Marsha Brady-style nitpicking. I also wanted the drawings to be a slight bit more precise. That said, I enjoyed the variety of different "animals" for each letter as well as the finding/counting element. I swear sometimes someone invented X and put it near the end of the alphabet just to raise the tension level in these situations. "What are they going to have for X?", "There can't be that many animals that begin with X, can there?"
An "animal" alphabet that includes many creatures who are not actually animals. This brought out my most annoying "exact words" Marsha Brady-style nitpicking. I also wanted the drawings to be a slight bit more precise. That said, I enjoyed the variety of different "animals" for each letter as well as the finding/counting element. I swear sometimes someone invented X and put it near the end of the alphabet just to raise the tension level in these situations. "What are they going to have for X?", "There can't be that many animals that begin with X, can there?"
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
3.0
Solid alphabet book with an easy seek and find for the number 8, small trivia about the animals in the back adds.
shaunapirate49's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book. I loved the idea of incorporating animals into learning the alphabet. I simply found it hard to enjoy. There was not much color in the book besides earth tones, which kids (and myself) aren't typically drawn to. The object of each page is to find the animal that starts with the page's letter, 8 times. It doesn't sound too hard until you realize that they use animals like Upupa, Quetzal, Osprey, Ibis, and a Gibbon. I am half way through my bachelor's degree and I can't tell you what any of those animals are. Though they provide a glossary for the animals, it seemed like a lot of work just to learn the alphabet. The illustrations of the animals were beautifully done, and the idea for the book was great, but the execution did not live up to what I had hoped for this book.
iilex's review against another edition
8: An Animal Alphabet by Elisha Cooper (2015)
Target Audience: PreK - 1st (according to publisher), probably best for K - 1st
Alphabet Book
8: An Animal Alphabet, by Elisha Cooper, features animals grouped by the letter of the alphabet their name begins with. Each page represents one letter of the alphabet, and there are anywhere from one to fifteen animals represented per page. Each page also contains one animal whose picture is repeated eight times, while the other animals are represented in image once. The end of the book includes one interesting fact per animal.
Strengths:
-Interactivity: children can try to find the animals repeated eight times
-Includes some unusual animals and interesting facts about them
-Beautiful realistic watercolor illustrations of animals
Weaknesses:
-Extremely busy pages, with at least eight animal images per page (and some having twenty or more)
-Too much going on for very young readers, who might be the usual audience for alphabet books
-No plot or characterization
-Small text
My first impression of 8: An Animal Alphabet is that it is just too busy. Each page contains a whole herd of animals, and since the text naming animals is at the bottom of the page, it’s up to the reader to match the name to the animal. For a child reading this book alone, that might be a difficult task. For example, the “I” page lists: Ibex, Ibis, Iguana, Impala, and Inchworm. The animals are scattered across the page, so readers have to guess which animal is which. Generally I think of alphabet books being for children who are just learning the alphabet (like 3 or 4-year-olds), but I think this book would be overwhelming for them. An older child interested in animals may not want to read an alphabet book, though. Aside from the animal alphabet aspect, the book also focuses on the number 8: certain animals appear eight times in each picture. Some kids might have fun trying to count all eight appearances of an animal. Even that might be difficult, however, as each picture is different. For example, on the “C” page there are eight chickens, but they are all different breeds and both hens and roosters are represented. Overall, I think the book has very attractive illustrations, but I don’t think I would ever purposely choose to read it to children.
Target Audience: PreK - 1st (according to publisher), probably best for K - 1st
Alphabet Book
8: An Animal Alphabet, by Elisha Cooper, features animals grouped by the letter of the alphabet their name begins with. Each page represents one letter of the alphabet, and there are anywhere from one to fifteen animals represented per page. Each page also contains one animal whose picture is repeated eight times, while the other animals are represented in image once. The end of the book includes one interesting fact per animal.
Strengths:
-Interactivity: children can try to find the animals repeated eight times
-Includes some unusual animals and interesting facts about them
-Beautiful realistic watercolor illustrations of animals
Weaknesses:
-Extremely busy pages, with at least eight animal images per page (and some having twenty or more)
-Too much going on for very young readers, who might be the usual audience for alphabet books
-No plot or characterization
-Small text
My first impression of 8: An Animal Alphabet is that it is just too busy. Each page contains a whole herd of animals, and since the text naming animals is at the bottom of the page, it’s up to the reader to match the name to the animal. For a child reading this book alone, that might be a difficult task. For example, the “I” page lists: Ibex, Ibis, Iguana, Impala, and Inchworm. The animals are scattered across the page, so readers have to guess which animal is which. Generally I think of alphabet books being for children who are just learning the alphabet (like 3 or 4-year-olds), but I think this book would be overwhelming for them. An older child interested in animals may not want to read an alphabet book, though. Aside from the animal alphabet aspect, the book also focuses on the number 8: certain animals appear eight times in each picture. Some kids might have fun trying to count all eight appearances of an animal. Even that might be difficult, however, as each picture is different. For example, on the “C” page there are eight chickens, but they are all different breeds and both hens and roosters are represented. Overall, I think the book has very attractive illustrations, but I don’t think I would ever purposely choose to read it to children.
ursulamonarch's review against another edition
3.0
This is a cute book with plenty of different animals, including some I certainly hadn't heard of. The theme of having 8 of one type was good too and gives the (little) reader something to look for. Having said that, I don't know why this book didn't resonate more with me.
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