Book Review: I Travel the Alphabets

I Travel the Alphabets. Chrishana Greer, Davis & Greet Publishing, Hardback, Paperback, and eBook, 30 pages.

Reviewed by Christine Cassello.

I Travel the Alphabets by Chrishana Greer is a journey through the alphabet while experiencing the cultures of different cities across the world. Greer matches up each letter of the alphabet to a city, village, or island all over the world.

I was impressed with the bits of history, descriptions of landmarks, and what each area is known for that she mentions. However, some words are left untranslated, and the dimensions are not consistent. For example, something is mentioned in Johannesburg, South Africa being 55 hectares, but what is a hectare? Also, a building in Reykjavik, Iceland, is 74.5m tall. What is it in meters?

From the illustrations, it appears that the "I" of the title is the young man who is shown on most pages, but nothing is said about who he is, why he is making the trip to all of these places, how he finances the trip, and how he gets from one location to another. It does not tell us where he starts his journey and ends abruptly in Zurich, Switzerland. She says it is the most expensive city in the world but doesn't give any proof of that. Could that be where the young man in the illustrations began his journey, and he returned home? There is no real ending.

I also found the title confusing. The "s" at the end of the word "Alphabets" made it sound like it was a comparison of alphabets in different languages, but only the English alphabet was used.

I Travel the Alphabets is not a story with a plot as there is no beginning, middle, or end. The sole purpose seems to be to show the author's research skills. This is not a book a parent would read to a toddler, especially at bedtime, and I think the only thing that children of the age she suggests would enjoy are the colorful illustrations. Children aged 1 to 8, which is what it is targeted for, will not be interested. On the other hand, for older children, it could be a good supplement to geography or history lessons, so teachers may want to take a look at it.