Dr. Seuss's ABC
OCLC 704109017 | | |
Preceded by | Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book | |
---|---|---|
Followed by | Hop on Pop |
Dr. Seuss's ABC, otherwise referred to as The ABC, is a 1963 English language
Publication history
Dr. Seuss drew inspiration from memories of his mother, Nettie Geisel, who read stories to Ted and his sister, Marnie Geisel, at bedtime. He and Marnie also took piano lessons. Marnie practiced daily while he could be bribed with books. Whenever he did well, she took him to Johnson's Book Store and let him choose a book as a reward. Dr. Seuss's ABC was published as a Beginner Book in 1963, alongside Hop on Pop.[1]
Reception
Peter Lewis, writing for Common Sense Media, gave the book positive reviews, stating "Dr. Seuss turns the alphabet from fifty-two shapes and twenty-six sounds one has to memorize into an exercise in rhymery and wordplay. Uppercase and lowercase letters are taken for a spirited airing, matched with an apt selection of fun words, all set in the suitably absurd world of Seuss characters and creatures". He also compared the book to Dr. Seuss ("Seuss, faithful to his mission, entertainingly and effectively delivers the educational goods – in this case, the alphabet. The letters each take a turn in the spotlight and then are wedded to a few well-chosen words that convey the Seuss worldview of the high humor to be found in mental play: 'Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight ... mighty nice.'") Peter Lewis commented that Dr. Seuss's illustrations "are all about possibility – quacking quacker-oo, policeman in a pail, ten tired turtles on a tuttle-tuttle tree – that same sense rubs off on the letters: Here, take these letters, they're fun! Rub 'em together and see what you come up with. There is no better way to take the anxiety out of something than to make friends with it." The other good review was "Families can talk about letters and the sounds they make. Think of words that start with the same letter sound – see how many you can string together in a silly sentence or phrase."[2]
Sam Tyler, writing for The Bookbag, called it "a hard book to consider as it is great fun, but also a little maddening". He also stated that "The ABC book is something that toddlers will use early on as a foundation to build later reading on. If they can learn their alphabet, they can develop their words. Most ABCs are super simple with easy to understand and recognise objects representing the letter. This is not that book. Seuss plucked ideas from his books and imagination and threw them onto the page. This means that this ABC outing is more varied and fun than most, but it also a little difficult to follow?"[3]
In the essay "In O Is for" Mouse": First Encounters with the Alphabet Book", Laura B. Smolkin and David B. Yaden, Jr. compared the book to another alphabet book, A is for Angry by Sandra Boynton, stating in the book, "there are frequent changes in the color and size of the letters from page to page."[4][5]
The Washington Post called it one of "the best-selling Dr. Seuss books of all time". [6]
In From A to Z: An Exhibition of ABC Books Selected from the John O.C. McCrillis Collection by Alesandra M. Schmidt, she references "Ten tired turtles on a tuttle-tuttle tree" in Case 8, stating, while comparing the book to
Adaptations
In the 1995 CD-ROM game by Living Books, Ichabod and Izzy appear on every page and they find out more things that also begin with each letter.
This book has an iOS and Android app by Oceanhouse Media.
An augmented reality app version of the book was created by Sugar Creative.[9]
At The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, The Readingville Exhibit houses The ABC Wall, an interactive larger-than-life wall version of Dr. Seuss's ABC, which allowed children to touch various letters, hear the phonetic sound of the letter being pressed, and see the artwork from the book appear on the wall with the associated text below.[10][11]
In
Legacy
In the 2008 American animated film Horton Hears a Who!, yaks (which resembled the Yawning Yellow Yak, including Katie (voiced by Joey King[13]), appear as residents of the Jungle of Nool.[14]
References
- ^ "Dr. Seuss ABC". Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ "Dr. Seuss's ABC". Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ "Dr. Seuss's ABC by Dr. Seuss". Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- JSTOR 41411623. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
- ^ "O Is for" Mouse": First Encounters with the Alphabet Book". www.researchgate.net. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
- ^ "The Top Five Best Selling Dr. Seuss Books of All Time". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
- ^ Schmidt, Alesandra M. "Watkinson Publications" – via JSTOR.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1004&context=exhibitions
- ^ "Dr. Seuss Goes Augmented With The Dr. Seuss's ABC-An Amazing AR Alphabet App". Forbes. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
- ^ "Readingville". Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ "Readingville- Seuss in Springfield". Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- PMID 20868953– via PubMed.
- ^ "Joey King (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ "Horton Hears a Who! (2008)".
Sources
- Schmidt, Alesandra M. "From A to Z: An Exhibition of ABC Books Selected from the John O.C. McCrillis Collection." Watkinson Publications, Weird Tales, 1998. JSTOR, Watkinson Publications. Accessed May 5, 2023.
- NEAL, ROME. "Dr. Seuss: Fun With Words". CBS. March 4, 2004. Dr. Seuss: Fun With Words – CBS News. Accessed May 4, 2023.