The Numberlys
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
From the team who brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore comes an alphabet tale extraordinaire!
Once upon a time there was no alphabet, only numbers…
Life was…fine. Orderly. Dull as gray paint. Very…numberly. But our five jaunty heroes weren’t willing to accept that this was all there could be. They knew there had to be more.
So they broke out hard hats and welders, hammers and glue guns, and they started knocking some numbers together. Removing a piece here. Adding a piece there. At first, it was awful. But the five kept at it, and soon it was…artful! One letter after another emerged, until there were twenty-six. Twenty-six letters—and they were beautiful. All colorful, shiny, and new. Exactly what our heroes didn’t even know they were missing.
And when the letters entered the world, something truly wondrous began to happen…Pizza! Jelly beans! Color! Books!
Based on the award-winning app, this is William Joyce and Moonbot’s Metropolis-inspired homage to everyone who knows there is more to life than shades of black and gray.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a lush series of b&w spreads meant to be viewed vertically, Joyce (the Guardians series) and newcomer Ellis imagine a factory lit like a Busby Berkeley set or Fritz Lang's Metropolis, full of massive halls and gigantic machinery. Thousands of workers pour through its doors, and thousands of numbers emerge from it, providing order in the world and making it "numberly." Alas, there are no "books or colors or jellybeans or pizza" in this regimented world; just 00267, which is "thick and gray and gloopy," and 00268, which is "thicker and grayer and, well... gloopier." With can-do spirit, five industrious elfin creatures break some of the factory's numbers into pieces and invent letters, using the factory's pulleys to lift them, steel mill like claws to move them, and extruders to mold them like Play-Doh. The letters magically acquire color as they come off the assembly line, offering at last jellybeans and pizza, and even a new way to sleep ("zzzzzzz"). The story appeared first as an iPhone app, but works almost as well as a picture book, thanks to Joyce's innate instinct for visual storytelling. Ages 3 7.
Customer Reviews
Sideways
I haven’t found a way to turn the pages so they are right side up (instead of sideways), but the audio accompaniment is GREAT! I hope it gives me a way to read WITH my kids and they will be able to comprihend their reading better! Very cool, altogether!
A joy to read!
My son absolutely loves this book and ask us to read it every night. It’s a wonderful new way to introduce the alphabet. Only wish said app was still available.