Product Description

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year
A Recommended New Book for Missouri Students

A Miami Herald Best Book of the Year

Is there anything Pete won't eat? Poppy's charming yellow dog starts off by eating Rocky's accordion. All of it. He snacks on a bouncing ball that belongs to Uncle Bennie's dog Buster, and then makes a meal out of the rest of the alphabet. From glue sticks to underpants, Pete works his way through all twenty-six letters in Maira Kalman's creative take on traditional alphabet books. Packed with Kalman's trademark bright artwork and a hilarious story filled with wordplay and repetition, this alphabet book is pure fun from A to Z.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #182042 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

Amazon.com
You would not believe the things this dog Pete puts in his stomach. An accordion, for starters. Then an eggbeater, a glue stick, Mrs. Parsley's pink pocketbook, and cousin Rocky's underpants. ("Uggh!") Pete's faithful mistress, Poppy Wise, is at her wit's end. And yet, she can't help loving that dog. ("Quite a lot.") So, from A to Z (in a loose, meandering way), Poppy inventories her insatiable pooch's intake, with loads of parenthetical asides, witty commentary, and an unforgettable cast of characters. Maira Kalman, zany and talented source of Next Stop Grand Central, Ooh-la-la (Max in Love), and other exquisitely quirky picture books, uses the alphabet as a framework for what is truly an ode to a well-loved if incorrigible--dog. Her spectacularly rich gouache paintings are just the thing to illustrate this linguistic playpen. Read this one aloud—-kids and adults alike will sit enthralled. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Kalman (Next Stop Grand Central) unleashes her extravagant whimsy in this loquacious alphabet book, "in which a certain dog devours a myriad of items which he should not." Shaggy yellow Pete, staring benignly from the book's flame-red cover, is an omnivore. According to his astonished owner, who speaks in a torrent of interjections and parenthetical asides, Pete first dined on an "accordion. All of it." Pete's torso takes on the instrument's shape as he springs in the air. He next "ate a bouncing ball that belonged to uncle Bennie's dog Buster. (Buster is no bargain. He barks all the time, but still...)." A wan fellow stands with a frowning white bulldog at his feet, gesturing at a picture of the vanished ball; empty chairs in a composition reminiscent of Matisse augment the sense of tongue-in-cheek tragedy. Pete proceeds through the letters of the alphabet, enjoying sticky stuff ("Gooey gluey dog"), "Mrs. Parsley's pink pocketbook" and a pair of "underpants. Uggh!" A loose story line emerges as Pete eats Bennie's money ("Now Bennie has no money [none] to buy Buster a new ball...") and the Parsleys make multiple appearances. Kalman paints affectionate portraits of the unstoppable Pete, the now-missing objects and their disappointed owners, and her hand-printed text acts as an element of the illustrations. Her overblown alliteration and fabulous gouaches gush with glamour. All ages.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 6-8. Unlike Kalman's dog-of-the-world Max from Swami on Rye: Max in India (1995), Pete has a simpler ambition: he "DEVOURS . . . a MYRIAD of ITEMS which he should NOT." As revealed in an alphabetical catalog by his owner Poppy Wise, Pete usually prefers nonfood items, beginning with Cousin Rocky's accordion ("All of it") and going on to a camera, a fez, money, a pocketbook, various shoes, Uncle Rocky's underpants, and several yo-yos--anything, in fact, except "Zug Zug Dog Grub." With deliciously vibrant colors, slightly skewed perspectives, and delectable humor, Kalman mixes and matches her exuberant canine gourmand, his latest snack, and annoyed or melancholy-looking adults. Although each picture is headed by the appropriate letter in hand-drawn uppercase, lowercase, and script, this ABC is addressed less to beginning readers or writers than to dog lovers everywhere, who will agree with Poppy's rousing summation: "ZOOKS! WHATTADOG!!" GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

One of my son's favorite books
Great book. I have read to my 3 year old son a hundred times, he loves it and it has letters from A-Z. Not your normal book for pre-schoolers because it's interesting for adults too. I am giving it for XMas gifts to nephews.

What Pete Ate from A to Z
What Pete ate from A to Z was about little dog that liked to eat many things he shouldn't. Each time they tell you about a new thing he ate it starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Sometimes when they told you the thing he ate they would also tell you a little about what he was eating. Finally at the end of the book you find out the one thing Pete won't eat, but I'll let you find that out for yourselves. This book teaches kids about the Alphabet and also what things might be edible and what things are not edible, Morocco, the continent of Africa, what you do with money, and not to take other peoples things without asking them first. I recommend this book because it not only teaches you about the alphabet but about also about things that start with those letters. This book would be good for kids around the age of 3-5 yeas old.

AS GOOD AS ALL HER OTHERS - WHICH IS GREAT!
Maira Kalman does it again. She has written a book that I (as a godmother) love to read over and over to my god-daughter who loves to hear it again and again. Everytime we read it, we find something new to say about it and talk about. This writer is so original and charming and even, sophisticated. Her style is very conversational and really creative. She is a perfect companion to see the world with... New York's Grand Central Station, India, Paris and even Hollywood (from her Max series). The children that I read this book to respond to her curious and playful nature. She doesn't pander to kids but challenges them and invites them into her original and artistic world.