Alphabeasts

By Wallace Edwards

Book Overview

An alphabet book like no other from the unique imagination of Wallace Edwards, now reissued for a new generation of readers.

This new edition of the Governor General's Award-winning Alphabeasts celebrates the weirdly wonderful imagination of a beloved Canadian artist, the late Wallace Edwards. A new generation of young readers (and adults) will delight in this truly extraordinary alphabet book, discovering animals from A to Z living together in an old Victorian mansion. There's an elephant in the ballroom playing with a model train, an octopus hanging from the foyer chandelier - and even a zebra enjoying a soak in the bathtub

Using watercolors and colored pencils in his inimitable style, Wallace Edwards created a bizarre and luxurious world rich in color and texture, with details that readers will pore over. Timeless and engaging, this witty and surreal mix of art and alphabet book is a true gift for those discovering it for the first time.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1525315722
• ISBN13: 9781525315725
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Length: 32 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.3" x 12.3"
• Age Range: 6 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Grades 1 to 4

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and Surreal: Suitable for framing!!

I received this book as a gift and thought it would be just another alphabet book with the same old A is for Acorn-style drawings, but I couldn't have been more wrong. This book is filled with BEAUTIFUL, exquisitely detailed illustrations, many of which you wouldn't mind having blown up and framed. "C is for Cat, who reflects on itself" shows a siamese cat gazing into a mirror at the tiger staring back at him. "E is for elephant, on the right track" shows a circus elephant playing with a toy train. "B is for bat, slurping ice cream" depicts a bat, carrying an upside-down hammer, flying up to a delicious sundae - many of the pages have this intensely original and dreamlike quality. The day my 2 year old son first read this book, we read it 12+ times, and he still asks for it before naps and at bedtime. When he gets older I am sure the illustrations will serve as inspirations for his own art.You will love this book!!

A book you'll keep in your library forever!

This is a great book for children and adults -- a timeless, magical house of exquisite animals that opens up a whole other world of possibilities for children to imagine. The images are really evocative, so even very small children will enjoy this book. Early readers can read along with ease. Adults will catch all the subtleties. I can't believe what a deal this beautiful hardcover book is! I'm buying it for all the children on my shopping list and for all my hard-to-shop-for friends.

The alphabet is fun for kids and adults both!

How can something so visually exquisite be hilariously funny too? This thing is a treat! And beautiful enough to double as a coffee table book. My nieces and nephew loved it, my nephew spending hours drawing 'alphabeast' animals after we read the book. Thank you Alphabeasts!