This book is really hilarious! My friend and I laughed like school children. I had to look up a few of the words for pronunciation, which was fun. Also, I really like the illustrations.” I’ve long thought that the poor correlation of the sound of English words to their spelling needed to be highlighted. This humorous book does a great job of lampooning word-initial sounds versus word-initial letters. It should be a required textbook for all ESL classes!”

Some examples are great, but I feel like the book misrepresents English. English will absorb some words from other languages, like most English speakers will understand some French words, eg beaucoup, oui, quiche, and even the acronym of RSVP. The book also uses quite a few Spanish words as examples, which I think are great, but often ‘j’ is more like ’y’, why wasn’t that discussed? P for Pterodactylwas written by Raj Haldar, also known as Lushlife, and Chris Carpenter, with illustrations by Maria Beddia. The color illustrations help demonstrate the context of each word, while clever sentences filled with alliteration make for a fun read. For instance, “The gnome yells, ‘Waiter! There’s a bright white gnat nibbling on my gnocchi!,' ” accompanies “G is for Gnocchi.” I was impressed by this book. It kept a child amused for a couple of readings and taught her a few ideas about silent letters and English spelling.Word nerds rejoice! Someone finally wrote a book that gives the nod to the quirks of the English language. The title, P Is For Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever, is not a judgment; it’s the actual name of the book! I love alphabet books, I also love pointing out inconsistencies of language (there’s an ‘l’ in half, so weird).

The book spotlights words that have silent letters, or weird grammar rules, and invites you to ponder dangerous word traps and oddities. And you might learn something new along the way...While other lessons teach really important principles that, honestly, could change your life and maybe even help you find love.' ― Funny or Die It includes words that are not obvious subjects for children’s books (“quinoa”), as well as more usual ones (“knight” and “pteranodon ”), and words that are not really words at all (Roman numerals).a b Russo, Maria (October 19, 2018). "Standout New Picture Books". The New York Times . Retrieved March 11, 2019. a b c Jordan, Tina (January 25, 2019). "The Story Behind 'P Is For Pterodactyl,' The Self-Described 'Worst Alphabet Book Ever' ". The New York Times . Retrieved March 11, 2019. In this entertaining chapter book, the first in a series, readers meet kind Sir Sidney and the gentle performers and hands in his circus. But Sir Sidney is tired and leaves the circus under the management of new-hire Barnabas Brambles for a week. P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever - by Chris Carpenter and Maria Beddia was almost purpose built for me. Long before George Carlin asked about how the “w” in one got tangled into the otherwise “w” less two, or for that matter why it takes so many times to get to, too, two right? I was not getting the hang of spelling. “I: be fore "e" except after "c" is arbitrary enough if you are going to pretend away words like Chief, Believe and Field and there are others. I also have a clear memory of in class spelling bee when a friend of mine nailed Pneumonia while I was fortunately cautious enough to not call Bull, even as I was thinking it. (David got it right by realizing teacher was reading from a dictionary and was still in the letter “P” )

Most children will agree the book is “smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).” (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10) upvotes Follow Unfollow 4 years ago (edited) Dots Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017Let's get real―the English language is bizarre,” the book admits. “A might be for apple, but it's also for aisle and aeons. Why does the word ‘gnat' start with a G but the word ‘knot' doesn't start with an N? It doesn't always make sense, but don't let these rule-breaking silent letters defeat you!”