The Alphabet Tree (Dragonfly Books)

Another beautiful title from Leo Lionni. It captured my 3 year old's attention right away. He's interested in knowing alphabets so the more apt read.

I didn't have very high hopes for this book being a hit with my son (3 when this was purchased). Initially the story didn't resonate with him (the alphabet tree is made up of letters that band together to make words, and then sentences, to prevent themselves from being blown away by the wind), but as his reading has progressed so his enjoyment has increased and we now talk about the sounds and words and how they make sentences when we read the book.The illustrations are beautiful and really help to bring the book to life.The paperback version of the book is a little thin and flimsy - it has lasted a couple of years so must be doing something right, but nonetheless, doesn't feel like a very substantial book.

Quick read, child is interested in it.

I'm now a big fan of Leo Lionni's children's books

Ok read. Not what I was looking for.

Il libro è arrivato in tempi brevissimi, in condizioni perfette.La storia è semplice e meravigliosa. Messaggio ideale per bimbi alle prime letture, ma anche per i grandi.

Nice story and my daughter always want me to read for her

My grade one class loved it!

Love this author, the graphics and the message.

Tellement joliment fait et avec un beau message au bout! Bravo! Une enseignante maternelle Français/ Anglais touchée qui le recommande.

葉っぱの上であそんでいた｢文字たち」が、嵐で吹き飛ばされてしまってすっかりおびえてしまったけれど、力をあわせて言葉を作ることでどんな風にも吹き飛ばされなくなり、今度は文章を作ることになる・・・。さてどんな文を作るのでしょうか。谷川俊太郎さんの日本語訳では「あいうえおのき」になっていて、葉っぱにはひらがなが書いてあるのですが、原書では当然アルファベットが書いてあって、これが文字を覚え始めた子供の興味を引きます。英文自体は幼児には難しいものですが、どのページの葉っぱにもＡＢＣが書いてあるのは楽しいらしく、読んであげると最後まで嬉しそうに聞いています。日本語訳の方を最初に十分聞かせておいて、原書を読み聞かせるといいと思います。

This book is horrible. The plot is a bit confusing for littles to understand and the ending is ... it doesn't translate well with the times I guess. Not my favorite purchase. Not one of his best works. There are much better books out there that have to do with the alphabet than this one.

I bought this book because it seemed like a great educational book for my special ed students struggling with basic literacy concepts. I love how Lionni begins with single letters, and then puts 2 or 3 together to create words - great teachable moment. Then, the words are put together to create sentences. There are countless related activities that can be done with this book, as simple as identifying single letters on the leaves, or getting a little more complicated by having kids go through the whole process of letter to word, word to sentence, sentences to meaningful paragraph.The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the somewhat political message at the end. Not that I'm opposed to author's including their moral beliefs into their works, it just felt a little out of place with the rest of the book, and I find it a little difficult to weave into my teaching objectives while working with primary aged kids. That's just my opinion as a teacher of literacy basics, though. If my objective were to teach my students or children a kind of life lesson, I might enjoy it a little more.

Ordered as a gift for a friend's baby. Cute pictures but didn't appreciate the "political" ending!!

This is a great teaching tool to use when beginning a lesson on the difference between letters, words, and sentences.

I had high hopes for this book but it was just okay. It's a little smaller in size compared to other picture books so hard to see the pictures in a large classroom setting.