mjfmjfmjf's review
3.0
Yet another alphabet book. This one has some fairly imaginative drawings of people for each letter made out out of the name item - so apples and books and clocks and so on... The text is only okay. The art is pretty good in and of itself and clever - but not the kind of thing I'd want to be reading over and over.
calistareads's review
4.0
This is mostly a creative alphabet book for beginners and above. There is a poem of text at the beginning to set up the story and at the end to complete the story. A child is going to market planning to buy a ton of stuff.
The market is a person who is wearing a lot of the things they are selling. Umbrellas make up a person with a head standing up. The artwork is amazing and creative! Anita Lobel is the artist and she is very creative in her design. I was impressed by this. It really did deserve the Caldecott.
This made the children laugh. They loved looking at the picture to see what funny stuff made up a person. I thought the instrument person was really inspired. The nephew thought the oranges were funny and the niece thought the vegetables were funny. Both of the kids laughed merrily at this. They loved it. The nephew gave this 4 stars and the niece gave it 4 stars. Look at that.
emkoshka's review
4.0
Wonderfully creative and inventive, with each figure attired in market goods by alphabet letter: apples, books, clocks, doughnuts, etc. Loved Frog and Toad making a cameo appearance too!
kesterbird's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful book, harkening back to Arcimboldo but still super accessible to tiny kids. Super fun, great for many rereads and finding new things in the images.
luann's review
3.0
This is an alphabet book that tells something of a story. A boy goes shopping on Market Street to buy gifts for his friend. He buys one item for every letter of the alphabet. The merchants are each dressed from head to toe in the item they sell.
I can see why this won a Caldecott honor. The pictures are remarkable. I found myself spending time just gazing at each one, taking in all the details. It would be fun to see someone dressed up like one of these people. Such an interesting idea for an alphabet book. I also enjoyed finding the item for each letter of the alphabet in the illustration at the end (which is also on the front cover) when the boy is headed home after all his shopping.
I can see why this won a Caldecott honor. The pictures are remarkable. I found myself spending time just gazing at each one, taking in all the details. It would be fun to see someone dressed up like one of these people. Such an interesting idea for an alphabet book. I also enjoyed finding the item for each letter of the alphabet in the illustration at the end (which is also on the front cover) when the boy is headed home after all his shopping.
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