Alphabetical

Starred review from November 10, 2014
What could be more straightforward than the alphabet? And yet those familiar 26 symbols offer much food for thought, as Rosen (We’re Going on a Bear Hunt), former Children’s Laureate of Britain, so delightfully shows here. His beguiling journey through the alphabet will entrance anyone interested in the quirks of language and its history. Each letter receives a brief description of its written evolution and the pronunciation of its name and its sounds, followed by a relevant topic beginning with that letter, such as “D is for Disappeared Letters” and “O is for OK.” The chapter on Rosen’s personal history with typewriters, “Q is for QWERTY,” will be a particular highlight for readers of a certain age. The diverse topics he covers also include printing fonts, diacritics (“U is for Umlauts”), and the ways that the alphabet can be manipulated to encrypt secrets. Rosen has written a charming and thought-provoking book about what written language represents, how we use it, and the joys and mysteries therein. His humor and obvious love for his subject are winning elements. The individualized graphics of each letter at the start of their respective chapters add an extra note of whimsy and pleasure.

Starred review from November 15, 2014
A poet, writer of children's books and host of BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth tells the history of each letter in our alphabet.Rosen (Fighters for Life: Selected Poems, 2007, etc.) shows a capacious curiosity and imagination in a work that, in lesser hands, would glaze the eyes of all but the most nerdy language freaks. He proceeds alphabetically (duh) but also in a sort of defiantly digressive way. For each letter, the author provides-in sort of dictionary fashion-some of its history, evolution, pronunciation(s) and, for many, some "sound play" involving the letter. Regarding N, for instance, Rosen mentions "ninny," "no-no" and "nanny" (among others). These initial pages for each letter are informative and good for reference, but the remainder of each section is even better. For example, for C, he discusses ciphers, the Enigma code and even Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's spymaster. For K, he spends some time with Korean and with the recent YouTube phenomenon of "Gangnam Style." S takes us into signs and symbols, from Morse code to the International Phonetic Alphabet. And Z? ZIP codes. Along the way, we learn about Beowulf, e.e. cummings, George Bernard Shaw's disdain for the apostrophe, our fondness for initials, a bit about that old song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," the history of okay, the history of shorthand, why rhyme has an h, Noah Webster and the Urban Dictionary. Rosen also is mellow about "correctness" in usage and punctuation ("Our personal histories and feelings are wrapped up in what the letters and their means of transmission mean to each of us") and shows little sorrow for the disappearance of handwriting in schools; in fact, he thinks our current emphasis on it doesn't make much sense. A delightfully informative book about letters, their meanings, and the words and meanings we derive from them.

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February 15, 2015

Author Rosen, the host of BBC Radio 4's "Word of Mouth," covers many topics in the context of the alphabet in this winding trip through language, letters, and other things of literary interest. Readers are likely to find out fascinating tidbits of information about topics they may not have explored before: ciphers, Beowulf, thorn and eth, reading instruction, horn books, typewriters, and more. Each chapter addresses a letter, with two to three pages of history and an accompanying essay that may have only the slimmest relation. In some cases, the letters are more of a jumping-off point than an alphabetical issue. So every letter does tell a story; it just might not be what you would expect for that letter. While some opinions may be disagreeable (Quit teaching handwriting to kids? Put representatives in charge of choosing reading?), the author certainly has a grasp on current education practices, including spelling reform. VERDICT The overall delivery is solid and comprehensive. Britishisms abound, but most Americans interested in the subject will find that easy enough to get around. It's like Oliver Jeffers's Once Upon an Alphabet for grown-ups.--Linda White, Maplewood, MN

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
In this book, A is for Alphabet. But it could also be for Alterations, Ancient, or just Amazing. Rosen's account of 26 letters (and some that fell by the wayside) gives a brief history of the development and use of each one and then launches into engaging exploration of its past, present, and future. Along the way, readers learn which letter got its start as an Egyptian hieroglyph for fence, the ancient pedigree of do-re-mi, and where the name Hagen-Dazs came from. Rosen mixes in personal anecdotes with the history, resulting in a quirky and informative collection of fun tidbits. He celebrates some of the people who made their mark on our letters and gently pokes fun at the self-appointed guardians of language. Throughout, he applauds letters for their adaptability and variety of uses. A work about letters is also about literacy, and children's author and poet Rosen is passionate about teaching children effectively and thus enabling them to unlock the secrets of reading. The book entertainingly proves that the ABCs have something to teach us all.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)