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.
BOOKTALK: Kid Lit for Growing Minds – What would you do? for students
Activities from TeachingBooks.org
Honors:
- Finalist for Colorado Book Awards – Children’s Literature
- School Library Journal’s Alternative Anticipated Children’s Books of Fall 2018 List
- School Library Journal: Fuse 8 – 2018 American History List
- Junior Library Guild Selection
Reviews:
- “Both Anderson’s text and Baddeley’s illustrations are energetic and compelling… Deelytful and iloominaating for noo and seesuned reeders alyk.” ~Kirkus
- The combination of bold illustrations, humorous anecdotes, and fabulous storytelling makes this true tale anything but boring…a delightful, relatable, and eye-catchingly illustrated tale… ~School Library Journal
- “Thought-provoking and entertaining.” —School Library Connection
- “Engaging…A comprehensible, lively read.” —Publishers Weekly
- “Beautifully done…A great book to share with students learning about language.” ~PSLA Teaching and Learning – Literature Review: Elementary List
Amazon• Barnes & Noble• Bookshop.org • IndieBound • Books-A-Million
Articles, Interviews, Blog Posts
Learn about the Chain of Inspiration.
Take a look at Ben Franklin’s proposed alphabet: in his Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces; in Smithsonian HERE.
About the journey of AN INCONVENIENT ALPHABET – Mining for Heart: “Revising for Heart”
Critter Lit interview
Melissa Stoller’s Blog interview – This Writing Life: Stories, Creativity, Connection
GROG Blog Interview: Back to School with An Inconvenient Alphabet
KidLit 411 Author Spotlight
Tuesday Debut on Susanna Leonard Hill’s site
Vivian Kirkfield’s Will Write for Cookies
Lindsay Maeve Schubert’s An Author’s Two Cents
Picture Book Builders review and interview
Literary Rambles post with Stephanie Fretwell-Hill on premise
Interview with Colorado Parent magazine (Audio: 29.17-43.36)
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ISBN13: 9781534405554
For signed copies of my books, visit Old Firehouse Books HERE.
Beth Anderson, Children's Writer 