The Numberlys (William Joyce and Christina Ellis)

I love books that you have to turn to get the right view. This one is a VERY tall book and is about an imaginary place where there are only numbers. There are a number of wordless pages too, which always makes for an interesting read aloud discussion.

Everything is perfect and orderly. They invent letters and then words and what a world it is!

Goodreads says:


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.