From Windmill Books, finders of picture books lost to the world, comes this Qatari effort, which has a spread for every letter of the alphabet. On the verso we get a tongue-twister very much using the relevant letter, specifically in relation to animals that might or might not be having a fine time about Qatar. The other page is the illustration, which may now have a caption about any Qatari references, and may have an annoying interjection from one of the critters, at least at first. Luckily they don't seem to last, and we get the pure art and the tongue-twister. So this works as a very successful alphabet reviser, a guide to there being weirdly-named animals in the world, and a boost to the whole idea about what letters can do. With the obvious amount of effort put into the visuals I think I'd be forced to give this a really high rating, except the whole Qatar grounding does show it was always intended for Qatari audiences, something for English-learning emigre children there to have their nannies put it on the charge account. I was certainly left with a strong feeling that this hadn't travelled quite as well as might be expected, and that it might not sit that well with every audience everywhere due to having an overtly specific place of origin. But it certainly does what it wanted to do and well, so three and a half stars at least.

Welcome to an English alphabet in rhyming alliteration with animals and places found in Doha, Qatar! The whole book is great fun and has some Arabic words that are quickly translated to the English to help to become more familiar with things unknown to many of us. The book is fantastic in both senses of the word!
The illustrations by Fabiola Colavecchio are too delightful, imaginative, and vividly colorful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Rosen Publishing Group/Windmill Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

A great resource for those who are trying to teach their kids their alphabet or words that begin with each letter. It was set up in a similar way to Once Upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for all the Letters. Both present a letter and then give a very short story for each. And while I preferred the odd stories in Once Upon an Alphabet, this one provides more use in a teaching setting. Either in a classroon or with your child. They have an element of being useful for introducing alliterations. Since the stories primarily focused on words starting with the same letter, some were quite interesting tongue twisters. Which can be helpful for word pronunciation practice.

This would be a great addition for an alphabet book collection. It’s also a great example of alliteration.

The animations in this book are well done. This book allows for children to travel through a city in Qatar while expanding their vocabulary including some words that apply to Arabic culture and Qatar. For example, the book tells us that Gahwa is a kind of Arabic coffee and the Souq is a marketplace in Qatar. For individuals that don’t know Qatar or Arabic culture well it would be nice to have a phonetic pronunciation of these words available to the reader in the book. These pronunciations could be added beside the words in brackets or placed either at the back or front of the book.

Thank you to Rosen Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alphabet City by the author, Omar Khalifa, was wonderful! The illustrations were the first thing that caught my attention. There are silly pictures on every other page and they are so fun to look at! My 3 year old had fun picking out things he knew. The alliterations were my absolute favorite part of the book because they are using each letter of the alphabet in a tongue twister! I love that they had a bunch of facts about Qatar! My son and I learned a ton of new things!! I highly recommend this book--it is not like the typical 'alphabet' book.
#AlphabetCity #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a suckered for alphabet books. As a kindergarten teacher we do a lot of letter studies. We also do a lot of vocabulary building for students as many are new to learning English. This book will be a super fun one to read in class.

I do wish letters with dual sounds included both (long and short vowel; c and g).

I was not interested in this book. It wasn’t something that my son was interested or kept his interest. It was colorful but just not one I would read again or purchase.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was really cute and kept my kiddos interest. (Ages 7 and 8)
This would be a wonderful book to add to your home of school library. I would highly recommend this book.

. #AlphabetCity #NetGalley

Alphabet City- 5/5
Children's Fiction

Alphabet City is a lovely illustration book that helps the reader connect the letters of the alphabet with funny, silly scenarios. We loved sitting and looking at the different pages and identifying what we could find.

My 5- and 7-year-old loved this book and to see them truly engaged was fantastic. I would recommend this book to others.

Thank you NetGalley and Rosen Publishing Group for the eARC.

What a delightful book. It takes a lot to make an alliterative ABC book stand out, but the illustrations and Doha, Qatar setting definitely make this book unique. It isn't a book solely about Qatar, it is just where the characters reside and the illustrations and details are woven in. I love the informative cultural and Arabic pullout blurbs and the snark and silliness on some of the pages. The book is fun for early elementary to play with alliteration and to learn a bit about another country. There is nothing Islamic in the story, and no Muslims in the illustrations.

Thanks so much for the arc!

This book is adorable! Alphabet City is not your typical “a is for apple.” It is so refreshing! Each letter has many words that match it. That is so great for young readers. But what makes this book extra special is it set in Qatar. Readers not only become exposed to great letter words but the culture and traditions of Qatar. What a great way to learn new things! I am married into a Middle Eastern family so I particularly enjoyed this. I know my children will too as we’re always trying to expose them to Mediterranean things! I also loved the animals and illustrations. The pages are beautiful! Well done! This belongs in libraries, homes and young classrooms!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of "Alphabet City". All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Like most children's books I pick up, this was requested because of the beautiful artwork that I saw. The alphabet aspect made me excited as well. Right away I loved the side characters and their quirky remarks. One of these days I will get better are stopping and taking my time to read the description instead of just skimming. This point leads me to talk about Qatar. I honestly did not know half of the animals or places that were mentioned in the book. Upon further searching, special thanks to Google, the background images are true to Qatar. I love that this book did that. The thought and effort are appreciated.
Overall I did enjoy it and would purchase it for my Kinders.

This was a really cute picture book for learning the alphabet! Each letter features an animal or animals doing a fun activity with that same letter! It’s also set in Qatar so kids will learn a lot about different cultures. My favorite part though was the adorable illustrations! So cute!!