ABC3D

I really wanted this book to be five stars, but I'm not the only one who gets disappointed by the letters that seem to have been last minute considerations. Everyone I show has the same reaction - S is awesome, V into W is clever, however U is really confusing and by the time you get to Z you feel like you've been cheated with a few of the letters (A, M, N and Z - maybe I'm not appreciating the simplicity?) and Q and R should have been reversed order with O and P. However, all in all, a fun and classy coffee table book that's fun to share with company.

This is a very cool book. Basically, it goes through the alphabet from A-Z. Each page is a 3-D cut out that pops out of the page at you as you open each page. The cut-outs are very elaborate and impressive. I'm not sure how educational the book actually is, and some of the letters might be hard to recognize by some children. Also, Im not sure how durable the book would be in the hands of a child. Certainly it would be destroyed quickly by a very young child. But, it has a nice wow factor too it and so for the right child, it would be a neat gift.

I previewed this lovely pop-up book at my 2-4 year olds storyhour, and one of the moms remarked, "Oooh, yes, but I think it's for adults." I don't have room for computers in my children's library -- and I think their use is usually abused anyway -- so I make a lot of pop up books available. I love the sight of children and their parents poring in fascination over the pages of a book. ABC3D has so much to offer. I love the way Bataille has conjured the shape of each letter, the way O and P become Q and R with the addition of a single stroke, etc. It's the kind of "Isn't the world an interesting place" that art has to offer.

Just the thought and design behind this book is mindboggling! If you at all love the alphabet, you HAVE to have this book in your library. It will totally make you look at letters differently. A prized posession.

As a [former] teacher I find myself still loving Alphabet books!...so I had to buy two of them! One for my grandson and one for my house!