Monday, October 5, 2009

Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman

Illustrated by Andrew Zuckerman.

Abstract: From alligator to zebra, each featured animal boasts two striking portraits against a clean white background.

Chronicle Books, 2009.

4 comments:

  1. It's sometimes hard for me to get excited about an alphabet book, and you might think that there are simply enough alphabet books in the world, but this one is exceptional. The photographs are fantastic and made even better by the stark backgrounds. The layout is well thought out too.

    It's nice to have this unique work of brilliant photography alongside the more traditional picture books contenders.

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  2. The Medal shall be awarded annually... "for children" "original work"

    I'm considering the criteria for the Caldecott award and this book is a little different from others because most of the photos were published several years ago in another book just called "Creature" that was a coffee table sized book.

    Creature ABC IS a book for children and it IS an original work but it kind of stretches those two points more than other books on our list.

    What do others think?

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  3. Wow. The photos in this book really are stunning. But I have to agree with you, Dawn, about stretching the criteria for this to qualify for consideration. According to the official terms and criteria, "Original Work" means that illustrations reprinted or compiled from other sources are not eligible...does this rule out Creature ABC? The photographer is the same; it is his "original work", but it has been reprinted from another source (his previous book, Creature).

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  4. Did I mention how great the photos were? This is definitely worth a look -- or several looks -- regardless of its qualification for the Caldecott.

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