Animal albums from A to Z

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Bell, Cece

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 cm.

Genre:

Alphabet books.

Summary:

"Cece Bell loves music and collecting old record albums, her introduction explains, especially albums featuring animal artists. The bouncing harmonies of the Barbershop Beagles, the elegant crooning of the elephant Ella Fontaine, the hilarious rhymes of the Hip-Hop Hedgehogs-all are represented in this quirky ABC book that draws on the creator's personal collection of albums, memorabilia, and lyrics dating between 1944 and 1984, the heyday of album design. With wry, witty text, silly and sumptuous sound play, and biographical end matter on all twenty-six musical acts, the book commands and stands up to repeated readings. Bright, zany art-all painted and lettered by hand-a stellar design, and an album-size trim make it a collector's item in its own right, sure to grace the coffee tables of vinyl- and design-loving adults even as it tickles young funny bones. A hootenanny hosted by the creator of the Newbery Honor Book and Eisner Award winner El Deafo, Alphabet Albums from A to Z also quietly reminds us just how much music can mean to everyone"--

Subject Term:

Alphabet -- Juvenile fiction.

Music -- Juvenile fiction.

Animals -- Juvenile fiction

Alliteration -- Juvenile fiction.

Audience/Lexile:

Ages 4-8

Grades K-1

Publication Info:

Somerville, MA : Walker Books US, a division of Candlewick Press, [2024]

Subject:

Alphabet -- Juvenile fiction.

Music -- Juvenile fiction.

Animals -- Juvenile fiction

Alliteration -- Juvenile fiction.

Alphabet books.

Letters of the alphabet

Latin alphabet

Roman alphabet

Art music

Art music, Western

Classical music

Musical compositions

Musical works

Serious music

Western art music

Western music (Western countries)

Animals, Legends and stories of

SAILS ISBN:

9781536226249

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Acushnet Library	J 782.42 BEL	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Carver Public Library	J 782.42 BEL	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent	J 782 BEL	CHILDREN DISPLAY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fiske Public Library	J 782.42 BEL	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hanson Public Library	782.42 BEL	YOUTH-NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	J 782.42 B	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Francis J. Lawler Branch	J 782.42 BELL 2024	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library	J 782.42 BEL 2024	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Pembroke Public Library	J 811.6 BEL	NEW CHILDREN BOOK	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Somerset Public Library	Y 782.42 BEL 2024	NEW CHILDREN BOOK	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Taunton Public Library	J 782.42 B413A	NEW CHILDREN BOOK	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Wareham Free Library	J 782.42 BELL 2024	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Westport Free Public Library	J 782.42 BEL	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

From the inimitable creator of El Deafo , this all-ages alphabet book is also a hand-wrought, high-fidelity, hilariously tongue-in-cheek homage to the golden days of album cover art.

Cece Bell loves music and collecting old record albums, her introduction explains, especially albums featuring animal artists. The bouncing harmonies of the Barbershop Beagles, the elegant crooning of the elephant Ella Fontaine, the hilarious rhymes of the Hip-Hop Hedgehogs--all are represented in this quirky ABC book that draws on the creator's personal collection of albums, memorabilia, and lyrics dating between 1944 and 1984, the heyday of album design. With wry, witty text, silly and sumptuous sound play, and biographical end matter on all twenty-six musical acts, the book commands and stands up to repeated readings. Bright, zany art--all painted and lettered by hand--a stellar design, and an album-size trim make it a collector's item in its own right, sure to grace the coffee tables of vinyl- and design-loving adults even as it tickles young funny bones. A hootenanny hosted by the creator of the Newbery Honor Book and Eisner Award winner El Deafo , Animal Albums from A to Z also quietly reminds us just how much music can mean to everyone.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Newbery Honoree Bell creates an entire high-fidelity world with this clever, irresistibly prodigious abecedarian, which features album cover art and one song's worth of liner-note lyrics from 26 invented animal recording artists. The creaturely crooners--soloists and groups alike--represent each letter of the alphabet as well as musical genres ranging from classical to hip-hop, and album design aesthetics across the decades. Standing for S, Slow Surfin' '67 from the Sensational Sloth Boys sports a Pet Sounds--style cover and the ditty "Sometimes the Soup Is Salty" ("Sometimes the soup is salty/ But I'll make it sweet for you"). Additionally, for each album, the creator has produced a song (accessed via a QR code) and provides a brief "About the Artists" note. Of the Sensational Sloth Boys, brothers Sam, Syd, and Slocum Slothum grew up in SoCal writing tunes about "teen crushes and soup" that made their fans snooze (describing a 1969 performance: "I fell asleep. It was the best nap I ever had"). For new listeners and seasoned audiophiles alike, this rigorously imaginative tour de force--conjured up from collaged, hand-painted paper and even a little embroidery--displays Bell's goofy, deeply affectionate, no-detail-left-behind creativity, which turns each rockin' concept "up to 11." Ages 4--8. (Mar.)

Kirkus Review

For record collectors and fans of old-timey music, an alphabetical sampler of rockin' tunes from the likes of Mandy and the Meerkats and the Fabulous Foxes of Folk. Tongue firmly in cheek, Bell explains in her introduction that she's a collector of records by animal musicians, from the 1940s to the '80s. Thanks to a QR code, young audiences can listen to the "original" vinyl tracks and follow along as armadillo accordionist Arnie Dillow regales listeners with "My Aromatic Armpit Is Astonishing to All" and the Barbershop Beagles bark out "Bud Believes in Betty (But Betty Believes in Brad)." Other performers holler out their hits, from Darryl and the Dodo Devilettes to the Hip-Hop Hedgehogs and the Zydeco Zebras. Like the psychedelic "Philip, Phone the Plumber (It's Time To Plumb the Pot)," featuring the lyrics "The faucet oozes out rainbows / And unicorns hot and cold / They sneeze on my towels, I've gotta move my bowels / But the toilet's overflowing with silver and gold," most of these uproariously funny, clever lyrics don't need their musical accompaniment to stand up. Along with an introduction and background notes on the careers of these bands or solo performers, Bell supplies paint- and cut-paper images of album covers expertly evoking eras from big band to disco, with the occasional concert ticket and other memorabilia tucked in. Hilarious, high-stepping tributes to a musical niche that never was. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Multiple award winner and New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Bell brings the absolute best of her exuberant wit to this inventive, zany, hilarious assemblage of album covers. After a deadpan introduction explains this "authentic" collection of rare vintage LPs, Bell presents a deeply silly, enormously enjoyable A to Z of animals as recording artists. Each letter gets a spread: lyrics of a single song on the left page, faced by full-bleed art of the album cover. Each song is an inspired take on a random, goofy topic ("An Enchanted Elbow," "So Many Ungrateful Ungulates") with deliciously ridiculous wordplay and impeccably deft rhyme. Meticulously crafted collages of hand-painted paper and paint strike every right note in cleverly recalling classic album-cover design of the mid- to late-twentieth century; from evocative choices in typography and color palettes to exuberant callouts and witty recording-label logos, Bell doesn't miss a single beat in crafting these realistic and riotously funny covers. Reveling in everything alliterative, the humor swings from goofy to groanworthy, from silly to sophisticated. Boomer grandparents will dig sharing this wacky callback to the glory days of vinyl, and kids of all ages will set the needle on endless replay to keep the hits coming in this solid-gold release. Rounding out this musical tour de force, Bell offers audio of these super silly songs accessible online via QR code.