ANIMAL ALBUMS FROM A TO Z
By: Cece Bell
Published: March 26, 2024
Publisher: Walker Books/Candlewick Press
Fiction
Cece Bell is most known for her middle-grade graphic novel, EL DEAFO. Her newest children’s book is a homage to music and old record albums. ANIMAL ALBUMS FROM A TO Z includes 26 albums featuring songs by animal musicians. Bell loves finding old albums, especially those created by animal musicians, those human-run recording studios whose mission was to promote musical talents of all kinds. These were popular from the 1940s to the 1980s and actually produced surprisingly good music. Maybe you or your parents had an album or two as a kid.
From A to Z, you’ll find especially neat album covers alongside song lyrics that correspond with that particular letter. For the letter H, “Hey Howard” features hedgehogs rocking out to the heaviest 80s hits. The illustrations are vivid, show hilarious animals jamming out to various kinds of music, and look just like an album cover would. The Hip Hop Hedgehogs were a group formed in 1983 and wrote “Hey Howard” directed at sportscaster Howard Cosell.
The end of the book includes a brief history of each artist and their songs. As a child of the 70s, I don’t have any recollection of these animal albums, but I would have loved them if I had. Bell collaborated with various musician friends to write the 26 songs featured in this book. A QR code on the front page of the book allows readers to listen to the songs in this book.
I’ve already seen this book on several Best Books of 2024 lists. For your animal-loving and music-loving child, this is a fun book that can be read and enjoyed for years to come.
Check out this video of the song, Sometimes the Soup is Salty:
Cece Bell is the creator of the graphic novel El Deafo, which was a Newbery Honor Book and a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award winner, the Geisel Honor Book Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover, Rabbit and Robot and Ribbit, I Yam a Donkey!, Bee-Wigged, Itty Bitty, the Chick and Brain books, and the Sock Monkey series. She has also created books with her husband, Tom Angleberger, including Crankee Doodle and the Inspector Flytrap series. Check out her website, HERE.
To purchase a copy of ANIMAL ALBUMS FROM A TO Z, click HERE.
Other posts you might like:
Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Check out my review policy, HERE.
Posted Under animals, Book Review, Cece Bell, Children's books, fiction, Music