P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever
- Downloads：3916
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-09 06:53:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Raj Haldar
- ISBN：1492674311
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Let's get real--the English language is bizarre。 A might be for apple， but it's also for aisle and aeons。 Why does the word "gnat" start with a G but the word "knot" doesn't start with an N？ It doesn't always make sense， but don't let these rule-breaking silent letters defeat you！
This whimsical， funky book from Raj Haldar （aka rapper Lushlife） turns the traditional idea of an alphabet book on its head， poking fun at the most mischievous words in the English language and demonstrating how to pronounce them。 Fun and informative for word nerds of all ages！
This whimsical， funky book from Raj Haldar （aka rapper Lushlife） turns the traditional idea of an alphabet book on its head， poking fun at the most mischievous words in the English language and demonstrating how to pronounce them。 Fun and informative for word nerds of all ages！
Reviews
Alex
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The concept of this book is hilarious， and I loved it way more than I probably should have。 Also， I love that the word for T is tsunami， because I immediately thought of Randy Disher in “Monk” and giggled for way too long。
Bryan J。 Pitchford， MFA
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Absolutely hilarious！ Brilliant discovery of words with silent letters throughout them。
Fran
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I can see how this book is very clever and would work for an American English speaker but there are a some subtleties that mean not everything really works with British English。 Great artwork and I learned some new things too but I won’t be getting a copy for my godson！
Scott Ravede
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H is for honestly， and honestly this was an “N” joyable book， although enjoyable doesn’t really start with an “N。” Let’s face it， to come up with words with silent first letters for all 26 letters of the alphabet was an impossible task。 So， let’s give credit where credit is due and the ingenious ways the author got around the impossible letters， such as saying what a letter is “not” for， as with the letters “R” and “S。” One might quibble that “S is for Seas” doesn’t demonstrate a breaking of the H is for honestly， and honestly this was an “N” joyable book， although enjoyable doesn’t really start with an “N。” Let’s face it， to come up with words with silent first letters for all 26 letters of the alphabet was an impossible task。 So， let’s give credit where credit is due and the ingenious ways the author got around the impossible letters， such as saying what a letter is “not” for， as with the letters “R” and “S。” One might quibble that “S is for Seas” doesn’t demonstrate a breaking of the rules， but the example sentence gives plenty of cases of a silent “S” which is really all that could be done since there are no words that start with a silent “S” as far as I know。 Too bad not all letters could be like “P” where there are plenty of examples of rule-breaking。 The pterodactyl could have also had pneumonia and then he wouldn’t have been able to fly。 He could also have had a pterygium which might have impaired his vision。 Maybe that will be in the next book。 。。。more
Sam
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how much do young readers hate this book？ 😂
Elizabeth S
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As you might guess from the title， this is a silly book。 You might also think this book would confuse kids about the letters in the alphabet， but o contriare！ This book teaches kids about the non-standard words in the English language， where things are pronounced wildly differently from how they are spelled。 As with a standard alphabet book， we move through the alphabet with one letter for each page。 Most pages have multiple examples of the letter being silent or otherwise misused。 At the end is As you might guess from the title， this is a silly book。 You might also think this book would confuse kids about the letters in the alphabet， but o contriare！ This book teaches kids about the non-standard words in the English language， where things are pronounced wildly differently from how they are spelled。 As with a standard alphabet book， we move through the alphabet with one letter for each page。 Most pages have multiple examples of the letter being silent or otherwise misused。 At the end is "The Worst Glossary Ever" where all the words are listed alphabetically with pronunciation guides and basic definitions。 All along are fun jokes， both subtle and obvious。 So you could read it just for fun， or to teach about odd English。 The Glossary with pronunciations would be very helpful for kids who learn vocab words by reading them and may have no idea how some are pronounced。 。。。more
Nancy
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I love this book that tackles the tough words that break all the rules。 The art is fantastic and the illustrations alone are worth the price of this charmer。 I want to buy it for all my word-loving friends！！
Neil Pasricha
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A is for Aisle。 E is for Ewe。 T is for Tsunami。 And below each beautifully illustrated drawing is a tricky， head-scratching sentence。 Like for the letter T it says: “The charging tsunami washed away all of Tchaikovsky’s tchotchkes。” A picture book for older kids and younger kids who get that the English teacher has been pulling a fast one on them。 And word nerds of all ages。
Jennifer Griffin
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This is a great picturebook for middle graders that illustrates homonyms， alliteration， and silent letters at the beginning， middle， and end of words with a few jokes included for those paying attention to the illustrations。 There is also a glossary at the back of the book that explains how all of the words mentioned are pronounced。
Dianna Rainey
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This book is amazing！ I laughed the whole way through but it is actually educational。 It has words that students are not likely to come into contact with and it discusses irregular words！ When I have to go over irregular words with my students， I will use this book。
Elise
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I LOVE this book。 As an adult who loves words and grammar， this book is very amusing。
Shawn Thrasher
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This is a picture book for adults， kind of like Toy Story is really an animated film for adults。 Kids enjoy Toy Story （and Finding Nemo and all the other Pixar fare） but we all know that adults are the real lovers of Woody and Co。 This book is the same way。 It's not often I literally laugh out loud （LLOL？） at a book - but I did at this one。 It's is so damn clever and cute AF。 If you liked Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style - and I did， immensely （I want to be a mouse This is a picture book for adults， kind of like Toy Story is really an animated film for adults。 Kids enjoy Toy Story （and Finding Nemo and all the other Pixar fare） but we all know that adults are the real lovers of Woody and Co。 This book is the same way。 It's not often I literally laugh out loud （LLOL？） at a book - but I did at this one。 It's is so damn clever and cute AF。 If you liked Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style - and I did， immensely （I want to be a mouse in his pocket， he's so funny and clever） - then I think you will dig this book too。 。。。more
Mandi
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Not just for kids！ I purchased this book because I was intrigued。 I was not disappointed！ It's very clever， has a great glossary of terms （do YOU know what bdellium is？） and clever captions for every word。 This would be a great read-aloud book， because the pictures are perfect。。。a child could even create backstories for the characters。 It's also fun for adults to read。 In short， I loved it。 Not just for kids！ I purchased this book because I was intrigued。 I was not disappointed！ It's very clever， has a great glossary of terms （do YOU know what bdellium is？） and clever captions for every word。 This would be a great read-aloud book， because the pictures are perfect。。。a child could even create backstories for the characters。 It's also fun for adults to read。 In short， I loved it。 。。。more
Elaine
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This brings back memories of my school days， trying to write papers。 I would ask my Mom how to spell some word， and she would reply that I needed to look it up。 Imagine if I was looking for a mnemonic of pterodactyls who have pneumonia and are heirs to a czar。 It's a wonder that I have any hair left。Delight book on our wonderful English language。 I'll need to get this for my niece， but I think instead of for her first birthday， I may wait until she's about 10。 This brings back memories of my school days， trying to write papers。 I would ask my Mom how to spell some word， and she would reply that I needed to look it up。 Imagine if I was looking for a mnemonic of pterodactyls who have pneumonia and are heirs to a czar。 It's a wonder that I have any hair left。Delight book on our wonderful English language。 I'll need to get this for my niece， but I think instead of for her first birthday， I may wait until she's about 10。 。。。more
Santhosh Guru
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This is funny， bizarre and a cute little book for kids。 I learnt a lot about the weirdo world of English spelling and it’s quirkiness from this short book ☺️
Emily Grindstaff
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This is a super fun picture book！ The changing of the sounds makes it super fun to read and definitely makes you giggle。 This would be good for 3rd to 4th grade when they are more comfortable with the English Language。 This could also be a good book for ELL Students to help show them all of the strange sounds that comprise the English Language。
Amy Sands
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This is a great alphabet book。 Shows why we have so many issues with learning to read。
Shelby
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A perfect book to delight little ones （or confuse them）。 This picture book looks at some fun words that make English so hard to learn。
Virginia
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This book is the BEST。 It’s adorable。 Geeky。 A celebration of the absurdity of English spelling meets children’s books at their finest。 It has girl knights accidentally nicking boy knave’s knees。 And gnomes eating gnocchi。 Each illustration is charming。 The book is rife with word play。 And there are pterodactyls。 What is not to love？ I mean。 It probably doesn’t help children learn spelling。 But I’m sure the small human you were getting this for has one or five of that kind of book already。
Amanda Jenkins
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Genre: Informational Nonfiction Age: 1st-3rdI absolutely loved this book and I found myself laughing throughout most of the book。 This would not be a good book to read in class when teaching the alphabet because this book makes fun of the English language。 I enjoyed reading this book because I learned new words while I was reading it！ This is definitely a book I would recommend for upper elementary because， by that point， students should be well-acquainted with the alphabet， so this book should Genre: Informational Nonfiction Age: 1st-3rdI absolutely loved this book and I found myself laughing throughout most of the book。 This would not be a good book to read in class when teaching the alphabet because this book makes fun of the English language。 I enjoyed reading this book because I learned new words while I was reading it！ This is definitely a book I would recommend for upper elementary because， by that point， students should be well-acquainted with the alphabet， so this book should not alter their understanding。 This is definitely a must-read for everyone！ 。。。more
Carla
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An ABC book for silent letters in words sounds super fun， but this book didn't feel well executed。 It felt like the author forgot their theme a few times when their words didn't have silent letters in them at all， and they kept borrowing names and words from other languages in a haphazard manner that felt like cheating rather than inclusion An ABC book for silent letters in words sounds super fun， but this book didn't feel well executed。 It felt like the author forgot their theme a few times when their words didn't have silent letters in them at all， and they kept borrowing names and words from other languages in a haphazard manner that felt like cheating rather than inclusion 。。。more
Jessi
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This was a quick and hilarious read。 I don't have kids so I'm not sure how this even got on my radar。 I'm so glad it did， though。 I thought each letter of the alphabet would only have one example of a silent letter or a spelling that makes no logical sense。 Oh no， though！ As an example， the page for the letter P had the following: "P is for Pterodactyl。 Ptolemy the psychic pterodactyl struggles with psoriasis。" And it actually had an illustration of a pterodactyl dressed like a psychic and with This was a quick and hilarious read。 I don't have kids so I'm not sure how this even got on my radar。 I'm so glad it did， though。 I thought each letter of the alphabet would only have one example of a silent letter or a spelling that makes no logical sense。 Oh no， though！ As an example， the page for the letter P had the following: "P is for Pterodactyl。 Ptolemy the psychic pterodactyl struggles with psoriasis。" And it actually had an illustration of a pterodactyl dressed like a psychic and with irritated skin！ :D Both the text and illustrations are wonderful; I had a great time reading this。 I'm not sure how old a child would need to be （or at what reading level） to understand most of this but for word-loving adults， it's fabulous。P。S。 For a song in a similar vein， check out "Crazy ABC's" by Barenaked Ladies。 It's awesome。 。。。more
Erica
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Witty and clever。 Even I learned some new words and pronunciations！
Cherie
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Very funny alphabet book showing the weirdness of the English language！ Sure it looks like a kids book but it's amusing for all ages。 Very funny alphabet book showing the weirdness of the English language！ Sure it looks like a kids book but it's amusing for all ages。 。。。more
Emily
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Great fun！ And probably hilarious to a child at just the right stage to crack "tricky words" Great fun！ And probably hilarious to a child at just the right stage to crack "tricky words" 。。。more
Brooke Casper
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Thank goodness for a pronunciation guide/dictionary at the end of the book！I found this book humorous， but with words some people won't have in their vocabulary - some were in other languages。 Thank goodness for a pronunciation guide/dictionary at the end of the book！I found this book humorous， but with words some people won't have in their vocabulary - some were in other languages。 。。。more
Suzi
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Only for smart children！ I checked this out of the library because I was looking for new passwords for my computer。 Fun look at our language。
Barbara Lynn
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This book looks like it’s meant for preschoolers but I know a plethora of adults who can benefit from reading this。 It includes photos to go along with the letters that break the rules。
Abby Wheelwright
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Clever and humorous！ Full of silent letters。 I definitely needed the glossary at the end， for all the words I couldn't even pronounce。 Clever and humorous！ Full of silent letters。 I definitely needed the glossary at the end， for all the words I couldn't even pronounce。 。。。more
Isaac
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