P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever (The Worst Book Ever)

Very interesting, written about things that you might know, but not know the why for of. Written in an amusing style to keep the interest of even those who are not as interested in language patterns. Presents info in direct, short & precise sentences. Fun.

This is a great book for older kids to read to little siblings! Lots of laughs had by all!

P is for Pteradactyl: the Worst Alphabet Book Ever is an open invitation to children who don't like to read, or don't feel comfortable spelling. It points out many of the bizarre words in English - words that break all of the spelling rules. Children reading - or, better yet, being read - this book will be likely to dissolve in giggles after about the third or fourth page, and laugh even more uproariously with each page turn. I have recommended it to several teachers, particularly those teaching Special Education, all of whom have told me the kids loved it! Often, children who are having a difficult time reading, or who have older siblings who tease them for their struggles to learn to read, develop a dislike for the long list of "rules" involved in English words. The rule-breaking words in this book give them a chance to have fun with something unexpected, and may even give them a way to surpass their teasing siblings in properly pronouncing (and maybe, eventually, spelling) words that are not at all "right." Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas, I heartily urge you to buy this book for your learning reader - and, if possible, read it to them. I believe this sort of fun with words will restore their interest in reading, and their joy in their own mastery, as they look for still more rule-breaking words in other books.

The book had my husband and school aged children both bewildered and ROFL the entire time while reading aloud to my toddler. It really makes you pause while thinking about the words we use and their spelling, and realize it really doesn’t make sense and worst of all, short of hearing the word, there is no way to tell how to pronounce. (Think of the word quay. Apparently it’s pronounced as “key”. How in the world would you possibly know that or even start to sound out?!?) We loved the book and appreciated the clean, child-safe humor. The book is hard cover with paper pages. The artwork is lovely though we hadn’t noticed initially because the content was so funny. I wish we could get a board book version so my toddler could more easily turn the pages; however the book is definitely geared more towards older children in school. It definitely made reading the same book my toddler thrust into my hands over and over more enjoyable. Good buy.

This is an absolutely adorable book, I think better suited for me than my five-year-old granddaughter as it was a little over her head. I could pronounce most of the words however there were a few I was unsure of, and I really appreciated the glossary in the back to help me out. The writing was witty, and the pictures were well done and amusing. I would recommend this book.

A gift for my doctor - whose first letter of hos last name is silent.

P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever - by Chris Carpenter and Lushlife 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 matte 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 their are others, aren't there? 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” ) With The Worst Alphabet Book Ever we get a comedic twist on the entire shelf of alphabet books. Ain’t nobody here but us words that fail to behave. Phonic teachers, eat your heart out. Sorry, phonetically that’s: eat your hart out. I do like the occasional children's book, but so much better are those with a hint of the naughty. The down side is that on occasion the authors have some forced curtsy sentences to go with their examples. It is kind of a cheat to include foreign word. Transliteration is a matter of approximating sounds that may not exist in English. rather that spelling ‘exceptions” Is it properly Tsar ? (I think so) but I am not gonna get crushed if someone prefers Csar. Do not get me stated on Hanukkah, Channuka and its variants.

Whomever said English is the hardest language to learn would probably be quite pleased to see P is for Pterodactyl. This is a very clever alphabet book that highlights the difficulties that the English language poses at times with silent letters. Each letter is accompanied by a sentence that highlights several more words that break the sound rule such as “H is for heir. The honest heir admits that herbalism isn’t his cup of tea.” For those who are sensitive to witches, wizardry, and the occult showing up in a kid’s book - yes, there is a psychic pterodactyl and a Ouiji board included in the book. As a Christian, I was not upset at that at all considering there are very few words I can think of that start with a silent O and Ouiji boards are fairly well known. Maybe we’ll see an updated book down the line when someone comes up with a “better” word. Overall, this book was so clever that I bought a second copy for myself and will probably buy one for every kid gift I need to get in the future. It’s witty and educational and just fun to try to read.

The perfect book to confuse or entertain your friend’s 6 year olds! Not to mention to remind us the quirks of English language and chuckle. Once you’ve read this, I bet you’ll have a chuckle every time you see the cover. For fellow entomology nerds — this digs into the depths of your psyche and heaves out the skeletons from your phonic closet.

Bought this as a fun present for my mum. She loves it, gets a good laugh with it

Bought to be a coffee table book for the novelty. Unfortunately only half the pages are actually funny/interesting - the others are a little forced and included for completeness.

I love this. It's exactly what I need to help my kids understand English better, and was such a gas that we'd shared it in my DaF class and suggested my teacher make a similar one in German.

Je l’ai acheté pour mon enfant mais finalement j’ai plus profité que lui:)