Although I purchased these for a younger child (age 4) most of these books are intended for older children - some are listed as meant to be for adults. My youngest delights in scary, spooky, frightening books usually meant for much older children, so has really enjoyed these, but many are not suitable for all younger children.
These would be most helpful for older children, who for what ever reason have not learned their Alphabet at an early age, but feel embarrassed and bored with the typical A is for Apple type books.
If you are looking for unusual alphabet books for younger children - or ones that are nor frightening please try my home education blog:
http://youngadventurer.blogspot.co.uk/
I have an extensive list of alphabet books including tactile alphabets, dinosaurs, animals and traditional alphabet books.
An Alphabet of Dinosaurs by Peter Dodson
An Alphabet of Dinosaurs is beautifully illustrated with vivid, colourful paintings showing a great deal of artistic talent. In addition to a full page painting for each letter there is also a very detailed black and white drawing of the animals skeleton. This makes this book ideal for art students as drawing the skeleton of an animal can help you draw more realistic pictures. Some years ago, when I used to draw myself I practiced quite a bit drawing animal skeletons in very light pencil and then fleshing them out with muscle and skin. Next to the skeleton is a simple figure of a man to give an idea of the size of this animal.
Each letter also has a long paragraph describing the animal. This is written on a fairly high reading and interest level. For instance, one sentence reads "Erlikosaurus belonged to a group of dinosaurs called the segnosaurs". This is a well written scientific book which is certain to please young paleontology fans, well suited to an older child or even adult.
Like many other alphabet books for older readers though, this does not clearly display the letters. The only place a child will see the letter is at the start of each dinosaurs name. This is written in an artistic and highly stylized manner, which looks lovely, but really is not the best for anyone just learning to read. I drew large letters into the book myself. Then having seen how helpful stickers were in an alphabet book, I also placed foil alphabet stickers for each letter on the page with the text. With minor alteration this book can suit any age.
Full review on dooyoo
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/junior-book/an-alphabet-of-dinosaurs/1692121/
Z is for Zombies An Illustrated Guide to the End of the World by Adam Troy Castano
This is not classed as a child's book and could give many horrible nightmares. It is intended as a humour / horror book for adults. I feel it would perfectly suit much older children learning to read, especially teenagers. That said, my own sons , ages 4 and 8 do enjoy this, but this is quite violent. It is illustrated n black and white with red. The illustrations are of an exceptionally high quality, which may make this more frightening. There is blood, death and gore.My sons' favourite part is : "O -Omigod Omigod Oh Jesus Get it off Get it off Me .....".
From an educational standpoint - the main problem with this book is that letters are given in Upper Case only. Of course you can add stickers, or draw in a set of upper and lower case letters, but the art work is so good I hate to mar the book and have left this one as it is.
Z is for Zombie Merrily Kutner:
Z is for Zombie is a very unusual alphabet book. Each page has a picture of a monster or some other creepy item, followed by a short rhyme such as " Bogeyman: Darkness masks the Bogeyman, till you're sleeping that's his plan". The illustrations are usually in darkened shades, some showing the subject very clearly, such as a sink full of bloody eyeballs, the cyclops eating a man, or a queen with her head in her hands, while others only give you a hint of things to come - a clawed hand reaching in the door for the bogeyman, or a set of eyes staring in a bedroom window for the end of this book accompanied by this warning "Beware the night and what it brings, for out their lurk such scary things".
My sons love this book, but I do not feel this book would have been of any use in teaching the alphabet without being altered. It has the name of each spooky item, but this is in a highly stylised block text, which I would find difficult to read if I did not already know the spellings for each word. Lower case "U" is the worst. It is presented as a black square shape with a white diamond in the middle, but all of the letters in the name of each subject are splattered looking, as if made by dipping a shape in ink, and slopping tons of extra ink over the letter. It actually doesn't look bad. There is a certain artistic quality to it, but it hardly suits a child who is just learning to read.
To make up for this shortcoming I placed large foil alphabet letters to the side of each poem. This worked out perfectly as the letters are very visible, but can also be traced with a finger allowing a child to learn the alphabet through touch as well. Of course you could simply write the letters in with marker, but having used the stickers, I would highly recommend this - and if possible - a textured sticker would work even better. I'm actually glad now this did not have the letters printed on the page as the stickers worked out so much better.
This does have lovely illustration, and is much more mature than the simple baby book type ABC's so if you are willing to alter this, I am happy to recommend it for older children. Some younger children will enjoy it as well, but others may be frightened.
Full review on Dooyoo
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/junior-book/z-is-for-zombie-merrily-kutner/1690809/
The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman
Fun illustrations with additional items beginning with each letter to find in the illustrations and a dark and twisted sense of humour. This book is about two children on a dark and dangerous journey with pirates, monsters and possible cannibalism. The pictures are cartoon like, and the monsters are not really frightening, but it may still upset sensitive children. I do not feel this one would appeal to teens as much, but might very well suit children of 8 -10.
This has a large Upper case letter at the top of each page. It is painted, not ordinary print, but easy enough to read. I have added small stickers for upper and lower case letters myself, but this is not strictly necessary. This does have one major fault though. The letters W and V are reversed and W has vampires and a venus fly trap while V has a witch and a warlock. Oops. My children found this mix up quite funny though.
Animalia by Graeme Base
Beautifully illustrated animal ABC - suits all ages. The hidden items in the pictures make this much more interesting for older readers. This does not display individual letters, but the letters are prominently displayed the text features all words starting with the featured letter.
