Animal Albums from A to Z by CeCe Bell

Animal Albums from A to Z is an alliterative avalanche of amusing, applause-winning auditory adumbrations from the zoological zeitgeist.

Animal Albums from A to Z by Cece Bell. Walker Books (Candlewick), 2024, 64 pages

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10

Recommended for: ages 6-up

Recently, as I was admiring my rich assortment of albums and organizing them alphabetically, a marvelous idea occurred to me: Why not share the visual beauty of some of this cherished collection with you?

The result of that marvelous idea is this collection of the author’s eclectic tastes in nonhuman musical stylings, from Arnie Dillow’s Accordion Americana to the Zydeco Zebras’ classic album, Zigzag Zinnia. You wouldn’t have guessed animals could be so musical, but the golden age of the 1960s and 1970s produced a bountiful harvest of lounge lions, slow-surfin’ sloths, hip-hop hedgehogs, and rockabilly rats.

The author generously shares not only album covers, each with its list of alliterative song titles, but lyrics from each album’s signature hit. Such as Ella Fontaine’s “Enchanted Elbow,” Olga (the Ostrich of Opera’s) “The Oysters are a Little Off,” Ivana Iguana’s “I Am an Inspiration to Me,” and more (23 more), to be exact. She also crams endpapers with her collection of memorabilia and adds notes “About the Artists” in a not-to-be-missed appendix.

That golden era ended far too soon: “The communication difficulties between humans and animals during the recording sessions were a constant challenge; the volatile disagreements regarding proper toileting procedures could not have helped, either.” At least we have a dedicated collector to preserve these rare talents. I just wish there was a CD to go along with the book.

NOTE: Great news! I’m so old-fashioned I forgot about streaming, but one of our great readers informs me that the QR code at the front of the book (which I didn’t notice) will take you to animalalbums.com, where you can hear every song (and watch videos) OR log on to Spottify account and hear them all for free.

Overall Rating: 4.25

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5 (But humor value is a rockin’ 5)
• Artistic/literary value: 5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: Cece Bell’s El Deafo was a 2015 Newbery honor book. We liked it too. See also our starred review of Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover.
• Reviews: Listen to the Birds is a great way to introduce classical music styles to 3^rd-5^th graders. Also see Before Music: Where Instruments Come From.
• Resource: See our list of 20 ABC Books for All Ages.

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