CDC?

by William Steig

Steig’s classic word game – now available in color

C D C ? = See the sea?
E-R I M ! = Here I am!
U F B-D I-S = You have beady eyes.

To figure out William Steig’s word puzzles, you need merely read the letters, numbers, and symbols aloud. If at first the messages are unclear, there’s a clever picture accompanying each to give you hints. Originally published in 1984 with black-and-white drawings, this title is given new life in this full-color edition painted by Mr. Steig. Also included for the first time is an answer key at the end.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens, Fiction, Puzzles, Middle Grade, Poetry

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

William Steig was born in New York City in 1907. In a family where every member was involved in the arts, it was not surprising that Steig became an artist.

He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.

Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really puzzles so much as a game where the sounds of letters and numbers forms words, with the illustrations serving as clues. I might have liked them more as a kid, although I think the concept still would have gotten old pretty quickly. I preferred rebus type puzzles, eg

This book is probably best for learning to read. However, parents, if you are using it for didactic purposes you may want sneakily look at the solutions page in the back in case your children get frustrated; a few of these include slang or dated usages that may be confusing to today's youth. For instance, I couldn't figure out F-R-E-1 E-R S D-P because "dippy" does not occur to me as a synonym for "in a lunatic asylum".

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For texting fans everywhere, this book challenges your ability to decipher words written as concisely as possible, using letters and numbers phonetically to sound it out.

For example, CDC means See the sea?
Pretty interesting and a quick read - translations are in the back of the book, if you get stumped.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filled with the same kind of simple yet challenging letter puzzles found in its predecessor, CDB!, CDC? is effective in its presentation of these puzzles for the perusal of young readers. Some of the solutions are quite simple to find, but others require a fairly extensive vocabulary; for example, the picture of a doll-like creature hanging from a tree by its neck in a noose, and the caption "F-E-G" stamped underneath. William Steig has always been one to stretch the imaginative powers of kids to their outer limits, though, and I'm glad to see him continuing that proactive approach in this book.

CDC? is definitely one of the better collections of juvenile reading puzzles that I've seen published, and it will do a good job of stimulating lateral thought in the minds of most kids. I would consider giving two and a half stars to this book.

[Ashlyn Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
This book is not what it seems. When you open it up you see that it is unlike most other books. There are pictures on every page, and underneath the pictures is a code. You have to crack the code on each page to figure out the story. There is an answer key in the back of the book. The title is also in code.

Personal opinion:
This book was frustrating and fascinating at the same time. I found myself frustrated that I couldn't figure it out, but also just really fascinated with what the code was saying. Even the title is in code. The first page I thought the words were "goodbye." only to find out later it was "See you in Tennessee." my initial thoughts were how would I guess that. This book would probably have to be used in a first grade and up classroom. I think that some kids would catch on fast, and others would never.

Classroom usage:
CDC is a great interactive book. A great activity that could be used on this book would be to have you students come up with their own code. They could make a key for it and have other students in the classroom try and figure it out. I think this would be a great activity for them, that is out of the ordinary. The kids would enjoy this at all ages.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mental puzzles! Yes! A book for the texting age...but only before qwerty keyboards become de rigueur on our phones. When you decipher one of these little gems, you'll want to share it with the person closest to you. They may or may not be interested but in your happiness, you'll float a few centimetres off the ground.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one a little funnier and a bit more clever than C D B? Maybe because I knew more of what to expect. There are much bigger words in this one--quite a challenge to propose to kids! I had a lot more trouble figuring some of these out. I think I still prefer Rosenthal & Lichtenheld's Wumbers, but these are still fun. Reminds me a lot of "that WV joke."

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be a sequel to C D B!. This is harder and the illustrations are black and white. Although the clues from the illustrations are very helpful. By pronouncing the name of the letter and sometimes blending the names if the letters are connected by a hyphen, you solve a puzzle. Fun without electricity or batteries.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Notes:
not really a picture book as each page stands alone
way more complex and difficult than CDB
too many 'dark' images for my taste
adults may enjoy it

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever!

[David Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This creative picture book is based on "alphabet language," or using the names of letters spoken orally to decode the meaning. In other words, the title "CDC" shows a picture of a man using his are to showcase a beautiful ocean sunset (See the sea?) This book is great in that it forces the reader to think in a different way, and it plays with language in a fun and funny way. It takes a moment for the reader to decode and connect language to meaning, and when this happens, each page feels like reaching that "Aha!" moment. Plot...not really. More single-cell comic type of book. But CDC is for a wide range of students including Kindergartners who are just learning the names of letters and phonemic awareness as well as octogenarians that need a good laugh. Strengths of this book are that it's fun, it's easy, and it's incredibly creative. Weakness include the fact that it's a concept book, each page is an isolated cartoon, and there is no plot, character development, etc. So, it's more of a fun book that uses language in a different way. Poetic!

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This set of acronym-like puzzles requires significant thought and some mispronunciation if you are to solve them. The puzzles have the form of an image and textual clue constructed from a few letters. For example, the puzzle on the cover has a man standing next to a boy near the ocean and he is saying “CDC?” If you mispronounce the “D,” the statement becomes “See da sea?”
Another example has a likeness of English king Henry the Eighth with the caption, “N-R-E D 8.” Again, finding the solution requires a bit of mispronunciation. While English teachers may be a bit appalled at these puzzles, they are fun and challenging, a bit of exercise for the brain cells.

[James]

To figure out William Steig’s word puzzles you need merely read the letters, numbers, and symbols aloud. If at first the messages aren’t clear, there are clever pictures accompanying each one to give you hints. Some are easy, some are hard, but all are a hilarious treat when the phrases are decoded.     Originally published in 1984 with black-and-white drawings, C D C ? is given fresh life in this full-color edition painted by Mr. Steig. Also included is an answer key at the end.

[Clea Overstreet · Rating 5 out of 5]

To keep your little ones busy and engaged, consider presenting them with one page from this book each day. They will have a blast solving the word puzzles! Also a fun activity to do with your classroom.

[Anne Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've owned this book for years. I saved it because I thought it was hilarious. I reread it this week, couldn't figure out about 1/4th of the puzzles and didn't think the ones I could figure out were funny anymore. Guess I shouldn't have saved the book all these years.

[Jordan Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun book that is best read out loud. It gets easier as you go because you learn how to pronounce the shorthand better. A few of these are always in my mind. Not an every night book, but one to come back to once a year.

[skcocnaH · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids and I, surprisingly, had a lot of fun figuring these out.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this from a discount site for my clever nephew but some of the illustrations are racist depictions. Whoops!

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

You need to read the letters and numbers aloud and check the illustrations for understanding. Very clever.

[Tessa Frissora · Rating 5 out of 5]

CDC offers a series of "puzzles" using an irregular combinations of letters to form phrases. For example, the title says "CDC" to represent the phrase "See the sea?" This is a phenomenally crafted book that can be enjoyed by all ages - from beginning readers to teachers. While it can be fun and challenging to decode the puzzles, it can also be very helpful for English language learners. The book uses the literal pronunciation of each letter, without taking into account the countless rules and exceptions that occur in the English language. For someone just learning English this could be an excellent book for them to read and decode and gain confidence in their ability to read.

Conversely, it also provides an interesting perspective to native English speaking students, as it shows what it might be like to decode a text outside of the ordinary words and sounds you see and hear.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clever book of Steig cartoons with wordplay and puns represented by phonetic pronunciation of letters and symbols. The wordplay is clever, the puns are ghastly, and the cartoons are, well, Steig cartoons.
If you're able to keep up with things like D 2-M F 2-10-K-M-N in a museum, or watching a car taking a D-2-R, then you'll fit in just fine.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Call me simple, but "V F E 10 D L F N" (We have eaten the elephant.) accompanied by a drawing of little aborigines by an elephant carcass is just plain clever.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this one better than CDB because despite there still being a few that I couldn't figure out, the puzzles/stories/drawings were slightly more sophisticated. My favorite was "L-O, R-P" -- brilliant, especially with the drawing.

[Gps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever, and wonderful Steig illustrations, but not some of the words or phrases are more suitable for middle school children than the younger set.
plenty of fun for adults to figure out nonetheless. my favorite is page 21
D 10R S-N N 2N

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This probably isn't a book that I'd ever read straight thru. But it's fun to leave in an obvious place so people will pick it up and try to figure out some of the captions. Clever. Looks like a picture book, but generally speaking, it's not for young children.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much fun!! I got most of the phrases right away but had to go back and try a few again. By then, my brain had gotten so used to it that the ones that stumped me before were very easy.

A super fun and clever idea!! I have to see if there is more!

[Jan Ackerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's ridiculous how happy this book makes me. Adorable illustrations, clever puns--complete sentences made with just a few letters--a little bit of heaven.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until this one arrived at our library, I didn't know their was a sequel to C D B ! What a delight-I love sharing this one with the students.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

64 pages of absolute joy for all ages.

[Cher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very clever sentencing comprised entirely of letter sounds, kinda like present day texting.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! You and your children will have so much fun breaking the code. Great illustrations. I love Steig.