ENG 207: Children's Literature

There is always enough room on your child's bookshelf for this rollicking alphabet chant that has been a children's favorite for over thirty years! A told B, and B told C, "I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree" In this lively alphabet rhyme, all the letters of the alphabet race each other up the coconut tree. Will there be enough room? Oh, no--Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom! Countless children--and their parents--can joyfully recite the familiar words of this beloved alphabet chant. Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault's rhythmic text keeps the beat with Caldecott Honor illustrator Lois Ehlert's bold, cheerful art. This winning combination has made the Chicka Chicka series an enduring classic.

Feast your eyes on these amazing creatures before they disappear. This stampede of wild animals, from Chinese Alligator to Grevy's Zebra, are so rare, they're all endangered. David McLiman's bold and playful illustrations transform each letter into a work of art, graphically rendered with animal characteristics. Scales, horns, even insect wings transform the alphabet into animated life. Once you take this eye-opening safari, you'll never look at letters or animals with the same way again. A striking work of art and a zoological adventure, Gone Wild is sure to be loved by children and adults alike.

The urban landscape will never look the same again. As Stephen T. Johnson demonstrates in a series of strikingly realistic pastels and watercolors, a simple sawhorse can contain the letter "A" while lampposts alongside a highway can form a row of elegant, soaring Ys. A 1996 Caldecott Honor book, this sophisticated, wordless alphabet book is sure to appeal to young and old alike.

P is for Palmetto is a collection of evocative pages of watercolor that covers this beautiful southeastern state from A to Z. Carol Crane captures the diverse features of South Carolina with her flowing verse and solid expository text, while, within the images of Mary Whyte, you can almost envision yourself standing in the vast cotton fields and walking along the sandy shores of its stunning coastline. South Carolinians, young and old, will treasure P is for Palmetto and educators will find its two-tiered teaching format extremely useful in their classrooms.