#451 - The Alphabet of Animals and Birds

by Prabha Mallya

“The Alphabet of Animals and Birds” by Prabha Mallya. Published by Red Turtle. A delightful book that brings together a bunch of collective nouns from the world of animals and birds.

It is a joy to experience the word play associated with collective nouns in English when it comes to animals and birds. In some cases, it is just funny to imagine the literal meaning of the words while it may be just humorous to associate the word with that particular animal/bird. This book has a collection of collective nouns for an animal or a bird starting with every single letter of the English alphabet. Some of them might be familiar but most will leave you amused.

From a shrewdness of apes to a sloth of bears to a memory of elephants to a cartload of monkeys to a mischief of mice the book has it all. A murder of crows to a covey of quails from the avifauna world. Words like gulp, parliament, mess, huddle and smack abound the pages of the book. All of these with some beautiful artwork which is sure to appeal to the children. Dive into this unusual alphabet book to have some special fun with collective nouns.

This was one of the books that I had picked up long back for my husband’s niece. The blurb of the book had caught my fancy and the artwork was so beautiful. My nine year old had borrowed it from his cousin and had fun going through it. We read it when he had been introduced to collective nouns in school. This book along-with a quirky and spooky story called “A Tangle of Brungles” featuring collective nouns are the books we have read on this topic and enjoyed.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 7/8 and above.

Reasons to Read

For a fun way to know about the collective nouns of animals and birds.