How arbitrary are the marks, analog and digital, used to express language, and where do they begin to muck it all up? This first book from Tauba Auerbach, Yes and Not Yes features over 20 new paintings and drawings that spring from those questions. They offer an excellent if roundabout answer: while letters are largely arbitrary, they are rich with abstract beauty and conceptual depth. In razor-sharp execution--which reveals her training as a sign painter--Auerbach's works on panel and paper update the abstract conceptual tradition, while retaining its intellectual rigor. Uppercase Insides and Numeral Insides recall Russian Suprematism, and, upon further contemplation, turn out to be just what their titles call them. Works based on signal flags and the Ugaritic Alphabet--an extinct language from Syria, 1300 B.C.--confirm that puzzlement is part of the desired effect here. Where direct exchange between sign and meaning is impossible, the beauty of the symbol comes to the fore.

A New York Times Bestseller! A "raucous trip through the odd corners of our alphabet." —The New York Times Let's get real—the English language is bizarre. 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! This whimsical, funky book from Raj Haldar (aka rapper Lushlife) turns the traditional idea of an alphabet book on its head, poking fun at the most mischievous words in the English language and demonstrating how to pronounce them. Fun and informative for word nerds of all ages!

“Delightful, relatable, and eye-catchingly illustrated.” —School Library Journal “Deelytful and iloominaating for noo and seesuned reeders alyk.” —Kirkus Reviews “Thought-provoking and entertaining.” —School Library Connection “Engaging...A comprehensible, lively read.” —Publishers Weekly Do you ever wish English was eez-ee-yer to spell? Ben Franklin and Noah Webster did! Debut author Beth Anderson and the New York Times bestselling illustrator of I Dissent, Elizabeth Baddeley, tell the story of two patriots and their attempt to revolutionize the English alphabet. Once upon a revolutionary time, two great American patriots tried to make life easier. They knew how hard it was to spell words in English. They knew that sounds didn’t match letters. They knew that the problem was an inconvenient English alphabet. In 1786, Ben Franklin, at age eighty, and Noah Webster, twenty-eight, teamed up. Their goal? Make English easier to read and write. But even for great thinkers, what seems easy can turn out to be hard. Children today will be delighted to learn that when they “sound out” words, they are doing eg-zakt-lee what Ben and Noah wanted.

An alphabet fiesta like no other.

"Elemenno Pee is all mixed up and doesn't know where he belongs. With a little help and a good sing-along, can he find his place among his friends?" 'The Alphabet Set' is aimed at younger children, from pre-schoolers through to Key Stage 1. It brings to life the sounds, shapes and rhythms of the alphabet, as letters become characters with personalities of their own.

Little i can't wait to meet his friends at school, but there's just one problem: he can't find his dot anywhere? Each letter offers a replacement—an acorn from Little a, a balloon from Little b, a clock from Little c—but nothing seems quite right. Adorable illustrations teach alphabet letters and sounds with a surprising and satisfying ending to Little i's search.

Readers learn the alphabet along with George as the man in the yellow hat teaches the curious monkey how to read.

The modern Gaelic alphabet has 18 letters - Gaelic simply needs a smaller alphabet to make its sounds. To pronounce Gaelic words correctly you need to know what the sounds of the letters are, particularly the sounds of combinations of letters. Using his knowledge of the conventions of the language and not a little humour, George McLennan offers a straightforward guide to the Gaelic alphabet. Placenames and surnames are used to illustrate particular pronunciations, in the expectation that most people will be familiar with them. Each letter is discussed separately. Combinations of consonants, eg chd, are dealt with or referred to under the first letter. The vowels are then done in alphabetical order as are groups of vowels. Like its sucessful campanion volume Scots Gaelic an introduction to the basics, A Gaelic Alphabet will be of great help to learners and speakers of the language.

Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College Why was reading so hard? When Adam started kindergarten, the teacher wanted him to learn about letters. But "p" looked like "q," and "b" looked like "d." Adam would rather color or mold clay. In first grade, his teacher wanted him to put the letters into words so he could read. That was the beginning of the Alphabet War. "Was" looked like "saw," and "there" looked like "then." Almost everyone else in his class was learning to read, but Adam was fighting a war against letters. In second grade, he had to learn to spell, which was also impossible. Now he was so frustrated he got into trouble and had to go to the principal's office. At last, in third grade, he got the right kind of help. Slowly he began to do better. During fourth grade, he learned that he could excel in other things. That gave him the confidence to take chances with reading. One day he found himself reading a book all by himself!

Ecstatic alphabets/Heaps of language is a group exhibition on view at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, from May 6 to August 27, 2012. It brings together forty-four modern and contemporary artists and artists' groups working in all mediums including painting, sculptutre, film , video, audio, spoken word, and design, all of whom concentrate on the material qualities of written and spoken language--visual, arual, and beyond. This book--a volume in the continuing series, Bulletins of the serving library, published by Dexter Sinister--is that artist team's contribution to the exhibition.