Steampunk Alphabet


Written and Illustrated by Nathaniel Iwata
Published in 2013

Why we chose this book:
We were going to be attending Steampunk Weekend at local Tower Hill Botanic Garden, so T needed to know what steampunk was. Just showing him my Gail Carriger books wasn't quite cutting it, so we set out for the library. We asked for help at the children's desk (the children's librarians in Worcester are awesome!) and were given the only children's steampunk book in the library.

Mom and Son's Review
(son age 3 years)

Steampunk inventions correspond to each letter of the alphabet.

As we read, we talked a little bit about what we saw in each image, and what steampunk is. T understands it to be machines and metal and steam coming out; the pictures helped him understand what to expect in the floral displays and costumes he would see when we visited Tower Hill. It filled its purpose for us, but the text is appropriate to a ten-year-old. What ten-year-old is in need of an alphabet book? T asked several times what different words meant.  He did like pointing out where the steam came out in each picture, and afterward said some of the inventions he liked: "I like the egg. It is kind of neat. It is neat how those stuff can make noise and some stuff can't. I like that there is a part that can zip itself." T also liked that the pages were cardboard and he could hold the book and turn the pages easily himself.

Overall, I'd say that the illustrations give a young audience an impression of steampunk machinery, but the content is a bit advanced for the format.


 

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