A Is for Awesome

by Dallas Clayton, Dallas Clayton (Illustrator)

Overview

Inspirational artist Dallas Clayton infuses his trademark whimsical art and positive message into an absolutely awesome alphabet book.

Alliterative and rhyming words of wisdom surrounded by all new art fill this energetic alphabet book by Dallas Clayton. Bursting with color and life, each spread offers a rhythmic phrase and an abundance of artwork illustrating the featured letter. The message of dreaming big and living life to its fullest permeates every page, inviting readers to "learn some new letters that you can use to make magical words and share big ideas."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763657451
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/11/2014
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	710,795
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Dallas Clayton is the author and illustrator of the critically acclaimed Awesome Book series as well as the poetry collection Make Magic! Do Good!

Editorial Reviews

01/06/2014
In keeping with the irreverently inspirational attitude of his previous work, Clayton provides an alphabet of affirmations (“A is for awesome/ and also amazin’/ B is for beautiful/ big bold and brazen”) while animals and objects that begin with each letter hover around the words. The phrases occasionally dip into greeting-card territory (“K is for kids being kids/ (that’s the coolest)/ L is for living life/ up to its fullest”), but the big, furry-looking font and playful miniature images, along with lines like “S is for sailing/ in all seven seas/ T is for talking/ and teaching and trees” lend Clayton’s work a Haight-Ashbury vibe that should gel with free-spirited kids. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

There’s no denying the positive, kid-centric appeal. The attractive illustrations and accessible design make A Is for Awesome a fun addition for most collections.
—School Library Journal

In keeping with the irreverently inspirational attitude of his previous work, Clayton provides an alphabet of affirmations... [T]he big, furry-looking font and playful miniature images... lend Clayton’s work a Haight-Ashbury vibe that should gel with free-spirited kids.
—Publishers Weekly

Engagingly simple... [T]he feel-good tone is catching, and the sentiments make fertile discussion fodder.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2014
K-Gr 2—With this quirky alphabet book, Clayton provides affirming concepts for each letter: "C is for Confident Cool and Collected/D is for Dreaming things never expected…/Q is for Quiet to escape from the madness/R is for Reading but also for radness." Hand-drawn fonts, which alternate between large, uppercase letters that seem to be made of fur and words in a smaller, not-too-perfect typeface, are clear and easy to read. The book's design-narrow rectangles with plenty of white space-amplifies each featured word and makes it appropriate for building vocabulary. On each page, Clayton surrounds the text with miniature sketches of objects that begin with the featured letter-"H is for Happy to see you today" is paired with a horse, horn, hippo, hamster, harp, etc. The text verges on the trite ("E is for Everything under the sun") and is sometimes nonsensical ("T is for Talking and teaching and trees"), but there's no denying the positive, kid-centric appeal. The attractive illustrations and accessible design make A Is for Awesome a fun addition for most collections.—Nora Clancy, Teachers College Community School, New York City

School Library Journal

2013-11-27
The creator of An Awesome Book! (2012) and its titularly similar companions offers an alphabet of uplift. In lines of sometimes forcibly compelled rhyme ("Q is for Quiet / To escape from the madness / R is for Reading / But also for radness"), Clayton blends hand-lettered, characteristically inspirational watchwords and exhortations to dream big, aim high and make the most of the day, the world and life. These he surrounds with a smattering of pictures of unlabeled but common items and animals that are drawn in an engagingly simple, artless way and start with the appropriate letter. (Generally anyway: Viewers will likely puzzle over the guitar on the "A" page, and is the inscrutable lumplet in "C" a Cocoon? A sea Cucumber?) Children may enjoy the intellectual exercise of identifying the tiny images more than winkling personal meaning out of "E is for Everything / under the sun" or "V is for Values / and keeping them true," but the feel-good tone is catching, and the sentiments make fertile discussion fodder. Not awe-ful. (Inspirational picture book. 6-8, adult)

Kirkus Reviews