ABCs for Mummies

The Skull Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Ralph Masiello is impressive in its scope. And some people really love this book on Amazon. I am not one of those people.

I get that Pallotta's book has a much older intended audience as compared to your more typical ABC book.* But, I just think the book is in poor taste. It could exist without being an alphabet book, for one thing. Secondly, it features a massive number of endangered mammals. I feel like the tone is a little like this:

Hey kids! Let's look at lots of pictures of dead animals, most of which are dead as a result of human causes! Yay, for dead things that are beloved.

A good example of this is:

The text reads

P is for...This skull is unusual. It has carnivore-type teeth, but the animals only eats bamboo. You can look right into the nasal passage and see where the sinuses were. 

Did you guess it?** To me, it feel a little bit like showing a kid the skull of his favorite grandma and asking the kid to notice where her lovely eyes used to be. I just can't get behind the enthusiasm for death. I bet though, the author of this blog*** might have a different take on things.

*One favorite ABC book of mine, by the way is Lois Ehlert's Eating the Alphabet:

**Panda.

***Check her out!