...When I discovered that my young son was equally smitten with road signs, I set out to create a book that celebrates them."
So, I have a few more alphabet books for you! How do they come up with these ideas? Well, Maria van Lieshout blames her son for upping her own interest in signs. They are often the first things that young children have access to for reading. Their meanings are often blurted from riders buckled into the back seat of our car. That's definitely the case for this book!
So, just what can you see from the back seat? Combine familiar signs, found in alphabetic order, while on a adventurous trek and there you've got it! The bright yellow and black diamond-shaped sign for 'parent driving car with child aboard' sets us on the right path. Now, just put your thinking cap on and imagine signs you might see as you take a shared jaunt around the city. Great fun!
A is airport, B is bike route, C is children at play....mostly familiar, right? There is even a P for Playground. Wait a minute....Q for Quack and a duck crossing? Well, it works. Every letter of the alphabet is here, and aptly conveyed by a very creative artist. Z is often used as a symbol in early reading to represent sleeping (and snoring). So, as we pass the hotel/motel sign with a person sleeping on a bed, a decreasing line of Zs tells its story. They get smaller, and fainter, the further the car is from the sign. Seems just the sound that those Zs make is enough to encourage the child's eyes to droop. On the final page, the head slumps and we see that the car ride has had its predictable outcome. Oh, I loved those rides.
Very clever, I say! Be sure to check it out.
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