Alligators All Around

I love alphabet books and Maurice Sendak, so this one was irresistible.

The alligators engage in all sorts of activities, from bursting balloons, through imitating Indians and riding reindeer, all the way to yackety-yacking, until, "Zippety-zound! Alligators all around."

This book is a fun example of a fantasy book because the alligators in the book doing many human things. They get headaches, they quarrel, they talk, wear clothing, and they eat oatmeal. An alligator cannot do any of these things in real life.
Age Appropriateness: primary
Media: Pen and Ink

Personal Response: I laughed a lot reading this book. It was a lot of fun to read.
Curricular Connection: This book is perfect for a preschool class learning about the alphabet. Students could draw their own pictures of alligators doing things.

cute, funny litle abc book. lots of white space- big clear letters for prereaders.

I thought that this book was a very cute idea. By the end of the story I felt as though I had been through a day with these alligators and I loved it. The characters were engaging even though they were very similar. It was also a new way of presenting the alphabet that I had not yet encountered.

Alligators around town doing many things from A to Z! Fun, cartoon drawings. Capital letters only.
(Gr. K-2)

This is a children's book, but it makes me smile to read it. I keep it on my nighstand to look at when I need something to smile about. It's a tiny alphabet book that is rather silly and has wonderful, simple illustrations with alligators.

Alligators All Around is a silly alphabet book that expresses what alligators do for every letter. It is very silly and child-like, but that's what I love about it. It's a great book for teaching the alphabets and, just like many of Sendak's other books, it's small and easy to hold.

Fun little alphabet book, with illustrations of alligators doing something related to each letter of the alphabet. Classic Sendak illustrations.

This is a whimsical, delightful illustrated alphabet book

"Alligators All Around" is one of Maurice Sendaks books from the Nutshell Library series. This book is about learning the alphabet, and Snedak uses different sayings and actions to depict the designated letter. This book is a great book to read to little kids to get them interested in learning the

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alphabet. ALso this book would get them up and moving on some of the letters if they decide to copy what the Alligators are doing. The entire purpose of this book is to get students engaged and interested in learning the different letters of the alphabet.

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This is an alphabet book that starts with "Alligators all around" for "A." The trio of alligators (presumably a family) then illustrate the remaining pages with alliterative actions for the rest of the letters (e.g., "bursting balloons," "catching colds," etc.). There's the politically incorrect

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"imitating Indians," but otherwise the book holds up fairly well despite its age. It probably wouldn't be my first go-to for an alphabet book, but it's a decent enough choice, especially for those who are fans of Sendak's style of humor and illustrations.

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From Maurice Sendak’s Nutshell Library comes this nontraditional alligator alphabet book. Although a bit dated [it was written in 1962], the nonsensical, alliterative book features a family of alligators doing all sorts of things that families might do together, with each activity matching a

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letter of the alphabet.

Today “Imitating Indians” or “Pushing People” readily fall into problematic areas [the former being objectifying, the latter being behaviorally disturbing]; nevertheless, it is impossible to deny the uniqueness of the muted illustrations and the consistent pattern [letter, verb, noun] of the narrative that, fifty-eight years after its writing, continues to focus on helping young readers understand the alphabet. And young children love the nonsensical qualities . . . “ordering oatmeal” often earns giggles and the “forever fooling” Dad giving the young alligator a piggy-back ride is downright adorable.

Although inquisitive alphabet-learning readers may not entertain elephants or keep kangaroos [other than the stuffed varieties] or ride reindeer [except, perhaps, on the carousel], they will readily connect with catching colds and getting giggles and never napping. For young readers, “Alligators All Around” with its identifiable family doing things together [and sometimes behaving badly] is immensely engaging. Quirky, clever, charming, and silly, it’s a perfect alphabet introduction for young children.

Highly recommended.

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