Around The World in 26 Letters
Written: Jun 02 '00 (Updated Jun 02 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light hearted, fun reading with beautiful (and inspiring) illustrations
Cons: currently out of print
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| sleestakk's Full Review: The Great Alphabet Race |
I was honored when I received an invitation to forkids’ Children's Book Write-Off celebrating her astonishing 400th epinion (which, strangely, coincides with my 118th epinion). Despite my continuing Real Life Matters, I did not want to decline. The requirements were easy; review a favorite book from your childhood.
At first I was dismayed since my selection has long been out of print and not listed in the database. But thanks to that superstar Andy, I’m able to present you with my review for The Great Alphabet Race by Janet and Roger Campbell (Illustrations by Tom O’Sullivan), one of my all-time favorite children’s books.
-// Please scroll to bottom if you’re just curious to see to the other revelers participating in this event and don’t care to bother with my long-winded ramblings. //-
Let’s begin.
I really had a terrific mom when I was a kid. When I was just a small tater, she was studying for her Masters at Augustana College. She took most of her classes at night because she worked during the day as a Teaching Assistant (she wanted to be grade school teacher and ultimately she fulfilled that dream). I spent those evenings hanging in her professors’ studies reading and drawing while she was in class.
Every day she would either buy a new book for me or we stopped by the public library to borrow several books. I liked the books about monsters and/or dinosaurs (way before it became trendy) and on some days was treated with a few comic books. I also enjoyed all the crazy kids fantasy kind of fare (Seuss et al).
Of course, all these books were meant to pass the time while I waited for my mom. I was plenty content. Each book allowed me to momentarily step into another world and be a part of it. I always had new books and was able to amass a collection of dinosaur books the Field Museum would envy.
I’m sure the The Great Alphabet Race wasn’t my favorite book. I had too many books to have one favorite. But it’s definitely near the top of the list (and I’m only allowed one fave per forkids’ instructions). I was visual type of kid growing up (what kid doesn’t like fancy pictures?) and I translated what I saw onto paper. Certain books had images that left impressions on my fragile mind; so much so, I still haven’t forgotten them to this day.
The Great Alphabet Race is one of those books.
The Story goes something like this:
Simply put, there’s a race around the world. The King of Zantippy offers up booty of 100,000 gold pieces to fastest means of transportation in the alphabet. All the characters are animals (except for the Frenchie looking King and Queen).
Rollo Rhinoceros is the loveable protagonist and has a disastrous start to race. Seems a saboteur lodged a hard-boiled egg in the fuel line of his rocket. Rollo spends the rest of the race hitching a ride with the other parties until managing to skip to the end leaping from one contender to another.
Along his trip around the world, Rollo encounters the likes of Baron Barnstorm Bear, Darlene Donkey, and Gwendolyn Goat (and steals a ride with each). When Rollo finally gets his rocket fixed he crashes and finds himself lucky Farley Fox’s fire truck is nearby to put out the fire. This time Rollo discovers a dill pickle in his steering mechanism.
Rollo witnesses quick endings to Air Ace Archie Anteater and Carlo Cat. And it seems some elephants were sitting on the tracks to block Eagle Evan’s steam engine from passing. Rollo then gets kidnapped by Henrietta Hen and airlifted to Capt. Ichabod Iguana’s icebreaker in Iceland (ice-skating iguana’s in Iceland? Talk about sustaining belief!).
Rollo jumps into Jojo Jaguar’s jet plane and disguises himself as a medical doctor to get emergency transport on Murray Mandrill’s motorcycle. Rollo sees the King in a kayak being pulled by koalas making headway in the race as Lettie Llama’s lunar module gets lost in space.
Now in the ocean, Rollo swims past Norman Navigator’s Nautilus while Odmiral Octopus and some piano-playing pirates duke it out above water. After reaching land, Rollo finds himself in luck again as the Queen of Quinstantinople needs a quartermaster to fly her quadruplane.
At the next stop, Rollo regains his rocket until trading it in for a taxi in Topeka as Tandem Toad’s Trolley teeters by. But Sybil Sheep’s plan to sled to finish line meets a quick demise. Rollo procures a unicycle to overcome an unstable bridge as Major Ursula Bear passes below.
Veronica Von Hippo is slow going in her moving van as she eyes a potential new villa in Venezuela, while Carlo Cat’s car is getting towed by Warren Walrus’ wrecker (is that a crocodile showering in a canoe in the back of the car?).
A mysterious Mr. X (it’s really Rollo in disguise) sails his xebec through the Xanadu route and slips by Yolanda Yak’s yacht. It appears she’s already celebrating her victory to notice Rollo. Overhead Zarkof Zebra’s zeppelin zips by but whose horn is pointing out from atop the blimp?
Why that’s Rollo, of course, winning by a nose… er, a horn. The King finishes third and relinquishes the gold to Rollo declaring the prize must be used for grand party for all participants to be held in none other than Zantippy Hall. (The End)
The word count isn’t high since most of the illustrations take up the majority of page space, but the writing is fluid. Based on the words used, this book is probably best suited for early grade school level. I’m thinking the 4 – 8 year range. This is strictly a fun book with a little learning on the side; no morals or messages found here (although you might make a case for “persistence” on the part of Rollo).
The Illustrations:
As you can see, the story within The Great Alphabet Race is light and amusing. The words benefit from the wildly imaginative drawings by Tom O’Sullivan and that’s that reason I adore this book so much (check out Rollo on my profile page!). Besides reading all these books my mom picked up for me, I spent a lot of time drawing and it was books like this one that helped to develop my own creativity and imagination.
I find great delight in viewing these pictures now. O’Sullivan’s sketchy style is colorful and full of life. Although not rendered in a realist way, the pictures are magical and jump of the pages. The contours of the characters flow and there’s an energy that gives these still 2-D objects movement. Yeah, so what if I get excited about the pictures? Here’s why…
Often I attempted to mimic O’Sullivan’s loose style and mechanical expressions of these racing machines. This book (and a short list of few others) directly influenced my own illustration style. How much of an impact did it have? I was known as the “art guy” throughout grade school, junior high and high school. I received an Art Scholarship and was a declared Painting Major when I entered college. So I let me be excited. ^_^
Strange as this may sound, I attribute part of my short yet storied path into art to this book, and I’m incredibly happy I still have this one in my possession. Most of my childhood book collection was turned over to a couple of Day-Care Centers my family ran. I’ve never seen them since.
More:
Something else I really like about The Great Alphabet Race is that many of the images imply other things using the letter that aren’t necessarily mentioned in the text. This book doesn’t just hand the words to you, but rather makes you really look at the whole scene to find more items using the same letter.
Here’s an example. On the two-page spread for the letter “U”, the copy simply reads, “The bridge road is unsafe, so Rollo rides a unicycle along the railing. ‘Unbelievable,’ sings Major Ursula Bear, as she sails under the bridge.” Not much in the way of the letter “U” for sure.
But in the accompanying illustration, we see Rollo carrying an umbrella. A statue of a unicorn rests on the opposite railing. A Union Jack flag is at mast on Ursula Bear’s boat called “Una” while a U-Boat periscope peers from under the water. Her crew plays ukuleles as an Umbrella Bird sits on her head.
Ok, ok. I’ll admit I’m not that bright to pick up on all those things but fortunately there’s a handy little addition in the back of the back of the book that reads, “how many of these things did you see in the pictures?” Then for each letter is a short list of a few of the items pictured but not mentioned in the text. Pretty cool, huh?
The Great Alphabet Race was printed in 1972 and has been out of print for a while now. That’s too bad because I think this book, though simple in nature, could easily become as meaningful to a child today as it was for me at such a tender age (I was four years old in ’72). Definitely one to look for in used shops or yard sales.
My mother passed away when I was 13. But not before introducing me to countless books (among many other things, i.e. piano lessons, guitar lessons, dance lessons, art classes, etc.). I’ll never forget our regular trips to the library and bookstores, and I’ll be forever grateful for all those things. The Great Alphabet Race is something I’ll cherish for that reason. I hope that all kids can have the kind of mom I had and find inspiration in the books that she chooses for them.
My mom turned out to be a fantastic school teacher. But to me, she’ll always be a terrific mom.
Some other staple books from my childhood I also highly recommend that are currently available:
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
(first book I can ever remember reading at the library)
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
(one of the professor’s favorites to let me read)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
(one of the first books I can remember owning)
Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever
Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever
(I identified with Lowly Worm long before he became a rock star)
Any and all Dr. Seuss books for obvious reasons
Mega thanks to forkids for allowing to me to participate in her celebration. As much as I really didn’t have the time to compose this review during this particular juncture in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed doing this. I sincerely apologize for my late entry to the party and if you haven’t read the other reviews for this event, please take the time to do so. Here’s a list of the other attendees:
auntnono, bonies7, caconti, caravan70, curtisedmonds, doublecoog, ergopropterhoc, expono, fdknight, forkids, gracef, grouch, jrk, kcfoxy, kchowell, kimmiko, leah, mshawpyle, poseidon, redlass, swpaulie, taurusmoon, workingmomof2
Or use this link:
http://www.epinions.com/book-Write_off-forkids
Cheers! And thanks for reading!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sleestakk
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Member: Jay Stakk
Location: Chicago
Reviews written: 186
Trusted by: 333 members
About Me:
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