Arlene Alda- Children's Books

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Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Tundra Books, 2009

Hello, Goodbye
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Author / photographer Arlene Alda is back with another delightful photo essay. This time she tackles the concept of opposites with her keen sense of humor and sharp eye. This slightly off-beat collection of images is fodder for the imagination — an opposites book like no other. For children from five to eight, and those who still remember the magic of first discoveries, Arlene’s through-the-lens perceptions offer new ways to see and think about those remarkable “everyday” things around us.

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By Arlene Alda
Illustrated by
Lisa Desimini
Tundra Books, 2008

Iris Has A Viris
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Iris finds out that having a stomach virus is exhausting, especially when her brother, Doug, lets her know that she always gets sick at the wrong time. The sibling rivalry and misunderstanding of what germs are when they are called bugs unfold in this lighthearted story of Iris’s ordinary illness and her unfounded concerns.

Arlene Alda’s engaging prose, interspersed with rhyming couplets and complemented by the quirky, vibrant cut-paper collage illustrations of artist Lisa Desimini, make this book a must-have for any child who has ever had more than a runny nose.

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Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Tundra Books, 2008

Here A Face, There A Face
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Author/photographer Arlene Alda has produced yet another brilliantly simple rhyming safari — this time in search of faces in unusual places. These faces are found on buildings, in trees, mailboxes, and fountains. Coy, funny, grumpy, comical, or sad, they are almost anywhere a child’s imagination wants to go.

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Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Tundra Books, 2006

Read an excerpt of this book.

Did You Say Pears? 2006 Book Sense Children's Pick for Children up to age 8

Did You Say Pears?
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“If horns played cool music, and pants were just clothes....”

Horn, pants, nails, trunk, pitcher — all words that can mean more than one thing. Arlene Alda has put together words and images in a delightful and witty book of photographs as inviting as a pair of juicy pears. Did You Say Pears? takes a playful and very clever look at words that sound the same but have different meanings. Young readers will love to hone their budding sense of language with the deceptively simple text and the irresistible photographs that offer a first taste of the richness of words. A useful information page explaining the wordplay is included.

Arlene Alda’s photographs challenge the reader to look and look again in this book that is bound to be a family favorite.

“…a luscious welcome to the visual and mind-tickling delights of language…. Repeated viewings only reveal in more and more detail just how careful, clever and professional this seemingly simple picture book is – a perfect concept and a happy diversion, too.”
The Toronto Star

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Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Tundra Books, 2005

Read an excerpt of this book.

The Book of ZZZs
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Now also printed in Japanese!

Pigs and puppies, cats and meerkats, babies and grown-ups – all creatures sleep, but even so, sleep can take us by surprise.

With an artist’s eye, Arlene Alda has created a remarkably warm and intimate collection of images that capture the peace and magic of dreams. Young children will delight in the realization that no matter where or what we are, every living thing shares the same need for comfort, safety, and renewal.

Perfect for anytime, but especially at bedtime, The Book of ZZZs will help little ones accept that rest is as natural as play, and that there is time for both in a busy day. Minimal text, perfect for fledgling readers, whispers quietly along with the images and adds a poetic quality to this visual treat.

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By Arlene Alda
Illustrated by
Maryann Kovalski
Tundra Books, 2003

Morning Glory Monday
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Life in a tenement during the 1930s is difficult for anyone. No wonder Mama is homesick for the sunny south of Italy, where flowers bloom and the sky is always blue. Her little daughter tries everything to cheer her up, from hand stands and jokes to a trip to Coney Island. Nothing seems to work. But at Coney Island, the child wins a packet of seeds. Although it isn’t the stuffed toy she wanted, it turns out to hold a treasure. When the seeds are planted, they become morning glories. Their beauty reaches Mama, and everyone else who sees them.

Based on a true episode in New York’s Lower East Side, where the residents of 97 Orchard Street cheered up their bleak homes with morning glories, this is a story with universal appeal. By introducing simple beauty into our daily lives, even the grayest of places, and hearts, can be transformed.

Arlene Alda’s lyrical text is perfectly complemented by Maryann Kovalski’s marvelous art, which evokes the great illustrators of the 1930s.

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By Arlene Alda
Illustrated by
Eve Aldredge
Tricycle Press, 1999

Hurry Granny Annie
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"Have to hurry. Can't be late. Catching something. Something great."

Why is Granny Annie in such a rush? The only way Ruthie, Joe, and Charlie can find out is to hurry along with her. The curious children have their own ideas as they run pell-mell over a hill, into a marsh, and across a bridge, arriving just in time to catch... something great. Arlene Alda's story and Eve Aldridge's illustrations perfectly capture the joy of both exhilarating adventures, and moments of slow beauty.

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Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Tricycle Press, 1998

Arlene Alda's 1 2 3: What Do You See?
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They may seem like ordinary objects, but take a closer look at these photographs and soon you'll be seeing numbers all around you. Look again at that curl of hair and you'll see the number 6. Find the 4 made by the legs of a flamingo, or the nine in a spiral seashell. Count to 10 and back again with this delightful book for children... and adults... who like to stretch their imagination.

Read reviews for Arlene Alda's 123

Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Tricycle Press, 1993

Arlene Alda's ABC: What Do You See?
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If you look hard enough, you can see letters of the alphabet where you probably never expected to see them. This book of artful photographs stimulates your imagination while it tickles your fancy.

Are they shrimp in that frying pan - or the letter "C"? How about that saw horse - could that be an "A"?

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Photographs by
Arlene Alda
Text by Linda Granfield
Tundra, 2001

97 Orchard Street, New York: Stories of Immigrant Life
(This is a book intended for adults)
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Guided by the stories of four families known to live in the titular tenement, author Linda Granfield provides an illuminating look at life at the turn of the century and beyond in 97 Orchard Street, New York: Stories of Immigrant Life. Arlene Alda's sensitive b&w photographs of the building, which has been preserved as the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, share space with historical images and artifacts from the museum's collection, as well as photographs of the neighborhood today.

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The following books are no longer in print, but can still be purchased either new or used:

By Arlene Alda
Illustrated by
Dan Regan
Troll Press, 1996

Hold The Bus: A Counting Book From 1 to 10
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Guess who just got on the bus? 4 Dancing cats, 8 purple poodles, 10 thousand flees...and that's not all! Climb aboard for some silly counting fun!

(Limited Availability)

Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1994

Pig, Horse, or Cow, Don't Wake Me Now
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Morning time means waking up. But sometimes it comes too soon! In this lively companion to Sheep, Sheep, Sheep, Help Me Fall Asleep, Arlene Alda's playful verse and original photographs explore a world of little ones who need some coaxing to open their eyes. But from the duck, cat, and calf in the yard, to the little boy in the house, there is always one thing that gets them trotting, galloping, or racing to greet the day.

(Limited Availability)

Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1992

Sheep, Sheep Sheep Help Me Fall Asleep
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When you can't fall asleep, counting sheep is certainly one way to make you drowsy. On the other hand, when you don't want to fall asleep, counting other animals doing silly things is clearly a great way to keep yourself awake! And that's just what this preschooler does as soon as Mom leaves the room.

Children and parents alike will find delight in this multifunctional book. It's a rhyming bedtime reader, a counting book, and an animal identification picture book -- it's three books in one!

(Limited Availability)

Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Simon and Schuster/
Little Simon, 1983

Matthew and His Dad
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Once again Arlene Alda has created a very special story book. Part reality, part fiction, this is a picture/ story book in which all children will be able to see themselves. Matthew and His Dad is about fathers and sons. It is charming, it is humorous--and yet it is about a family coping with economic strain. But mostly it is about Matthew, whose rich and active imagination enables him to transform life into something wonderful and varied and full of hope.

(Limited Availability)

Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Simon and Schuster, 1982

Sonya's Mommy Works
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Reality and fiction intertwine in the story of five-year-old Sonya who, when her mommy goes back to work, has to deal with new schedules, parent substitutes, intensified feelings--loneliness, anger, frustration-- and a life that sometimes feels chaotic compared to the way it was when mommy was at home. Here is a book as life-affirming as its pint-sized heroine.

(Limited Availability)

The following books are written for adults:

Notes and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Commentary by
Alan Alda
Unicorn, 1981

Last Days of MASH
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(No longer in print, limited availability)

Text and Photographs by Arlene Alda
Simon and Schuster/ Fireside Books, 1981

On Set: A Personal Story in Pictures and Words
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From New York to Vermont, Virginia, Georgia, and the Virgin Islands a group of friends travel, relax, play-- and learn how to deal with friendship.

In reality a group of nine performers and more than fifty crew members are filming The Four Seasons in the space of nine hectic weeks on six different locations.

And there, on set, is photographer Arlene Alda, who brilliantly captures the intensity of feelings these professionals share for their work, the film, and each other. Here are portraits behind the scenes that express the joy of hard work well done, the frustrations of the actor at an impasse, the care of a film crew for capturing precise detail, the contemplative silence of a director planning a shot.

Behind the scenes in hundreds of photographs.

(No longer in print, limited availability)