A is for Alphabet Books…and Oboe

Lynn: I can’t celebrate Picture Book Month without reviewing an Alphabet Book! Long-time readers know it is one of my favorite types of picture books. My love of them began farther back than I’d like to admit and in fact, I still own my battered copy of Hillary Knight’s ABCs purchased for me by my father before I was even born. I’ve loved them ever since and have quite a collection. For me, alphabet books are a testament to the extraordinary creativity that illustrators continue to bring to what could be a mundane genre. They continue to be ever-fresh and brilliantly original.

A Is for Oboe: The Orchestra’s Alphabet (Penguin/Dial, 2021) by Laura Auerbach and Marilyn Nelson proves my point! Like all outstanding books, this is far, far more than an alphabet book. In the talented hands of composer, conductor, and pianist Auerbach and multi-award-winning poet Nelson, this remarkable lyrical book is an introduction to the orchestra, its sections, musical terms, and instruments. It gifts readers with lyrical poems for each letter of the alphabet, each cleverly delivering its assigned letter in unusual ways. For example, A is for the note A played by the oboe to tune the orchestra and W is for the new and exciting music written by today’s young composers. Each poem is a little puzzle to unlock and each begs to be read aloud.

Illustrator Paul Hoppe uses ink on paper with his dynamic and energetic drawings, reinforcing the message that the orchestra of our time is diverse in race, ethnicity, age, and gender and is a living experience for all to enjoy.

The vocabulary is often challenging but in accessible ways and is a valuable addition to music and English language classes as well as being terrific for shared reading with an adult. This is a gem and belongs in all collections. It will certainly be in mine!

Alphabet Books Never Cease to Amaze Us

Lynn: If you thought there could be nothing really new in alphabet books, think again! Alphabet books have been some of the very earliest in the history of picture books but authors and illustrators continue to bring their boundless imaginations to this topic. We have two of special note to review today and I’m leading off with an exceptionally original book, The Invisible Alphabet (Penguin/Rise, 2020) by Joshua David Stein.

Here Stein and illustrator Ron Barrett present their fascinating take on an alphabet representing things not seen. A is for Air, C is for Clear, E is for Erased and J is for Just Missed It. This is a conceptual breath of fresh air (B is for Brilliant), a nudge to children’s imaginations, and a unique approach to thinking about the alphabet for kids who have the knowledge solidly acquired.

On solid white backgrounds, Barrett used pen and ink and added bright orange in Photoshop to create fascinating scenes depicting something unseen or actions happening off the page. A drawing of an empty birdcage with an open door and a small orange feather is captioned F is for Freed. An exploding orange balloon illustrates P is for Popped and 2 blank pages represent N is for Nothing.

Each page turn is fascinating, challenging kids to think about this familiar concept in a totally new way. Every scene asks readers to imagine what has already happened. This is absolutely ideal for use as writing prompts or story starters in classrooms of all ages of students.

W is for WOW!

Cindy: ABC Animals (Peter Pauper, Oct. 15, 2020) by Christopher Evans is stunning. Each spread of the books features a letter of the alphabet and an animal whose name starts with that letter. On the left are the large capital letter, the name of the animal, and a silhouette of the animal in what appears to be scaled to size in comparison with each animal in the book. At the top of that page are two sets of upper and lower case letters, one in a serif font and the other in a more modern style. Both sets are positioned on a lined and dashed line space resembling those in a writing practice book. I could see young readers practicing their own letters on the space between the two sets! The Robin and the Quetzel are perched on those lines like wires while the Orangutan swings from them. On the facing page is a digital woodcut of the animal representing the letter. A for Alpaca, B for Badger…H for Hedgehog, etc. until Z for Zebra. What is a digital woodcut, you ask? Good question. Lynn and I aren’t sure we completely understand, but Evans says it is the “modern-day equivalent of wood engravings…images drawn by hand in an illustration software, point by point, and shape by shape.” Whatever they are, we are agreed that they are gorgeous. Each one is presented on a contrasting color background. If I were an early elementary teacher I would buy three copies of this book. One for students to read, and the other two to cut up and post around the perimeter of the classroom or on a bulletin board. Aspiring graphic artists will want a copy of this book as well. Brilliant.

A Bounty of Board Books

Lynn and Cindy:

We are in awe of the creativity at work in creating books for young people. That creative spirit begins with books for our very youngest readers too. We’ve been sent some terrific board books lately that are an absolute delight to share with babies and toddlers. Sturdily constructed to withstand tough treatment, these wonderful books are cleverly designed, smartly age-appropriate, and highly entertaining. In short – a perfect recipe for enticing the earliest readers among us. Here is a round-up of a few that have arrived at our doorsteps lately.

A to Z Menagerie by Suzy Ultman (Chronicle, 2019)

Little fingers will delight in tracing the die-cut alphabet letter on each page and then pull a tab to replace the center of the letter with a colorful illustration of an item that begins with that letter. O reveals a round owl face inside the O and is identified with a full body picture and the word “owl” on the pull-out page reveal. Scattered around the featured letter are a variety of colorful line drawings featuring familiar and more original vocabulary items. O includes onion, overalls, octopus, opal, oboe, orca, and an ocelot in an oxford shirt.

AlphaBit: An ABC Quest in 8-bit by Juan Carlos Solon (Chronicle, 2019)

The next generation of gamers may get their start with this seek-and-find alphabet board book with a quest, illustrated in the pixilated 8-bit style of the 80s and 90s video games, or the more recent Minecraft. Each page features a capital letter and four or five items to find in the scene that moves the adventure along. Level up!

Animals in the Sky by Sara Gillingham (Phaidon, 2020)

Whether or not the board book set will be able to find the constellations in the night sky, they will enjoy looking at this introduction to six of the constellations that are identified as animal shapes. Each constellation is presented first as a riddle with the constellation outline. A gatefold opens to identify the animal that answers the riddle. The constellation is superimposed over a drawing of the animal. Another drawing identifies major stars or other shapes within the featured animal. Ten additional animal constellations are included on the final fold-out pages for the overachievers, along with the suggestion for adults to consult a star smartphone app if needed.

First 100 Words: English & Spanish by Susie Jaramillo (Encantos, 2020)

We are past our Nick Jr. television days, but parents of young children will undoubtedly be familiar with the Canticos bilingual sing-along programs. This book is the first in the Canticos Bilingual Firsts board book series to supplement the brand. Thematic double-page spreads introduce vocabulary such as Frog/Rana, Tree/Árbol, Butterfly/Mariposa on the Nature/Naturaleza pages. School, Transportation, Sports, Music, Beach and other themes continue the bilingual vocabulary building with the familiar Canticos characters appearing on the pages too. Colors, opposites, numbers, shapes, feelings, and letters round out the rest of the concepts in the new series.

Make Me a Monster by Mark Rogalski (Chronicle, 2020)

This board book is an immediate eye-catcher as it features a monster face and a circular opening lined with teeth as its cover. Flip the cover upwards and each simple page directs readers to fold out monster attributes like bulging eyes, horns, or a green twisty tale. By the book’s end, readers will have created their very own monster.

My Evil Big Brother Packed My Lunch by Laura Watson (Chronicle, 2020)

Here is a board book “packed” with jokes guaranteed to make young readers groan with delighted horror. Open the lunch box-shaped book to learn that the narrator’s brother has volunteered to pack lunches for the week. On each lower page, see what the boy has requested for lunch. Flip up the fold and discover what was ACTUALLY packed that day. A ham sandwich, carrots, and a cupcake turns out to be a frosting sandwich, a ham cupcake, and carrots with mustard! Funny notes from the brother and disgusting combinations will bring kids back to this fun book again and again.

Our World: A First Book of Geography by Sue Lowell’s Gallion (Phaidon, 2020)

This uniquely shaped board book opens up to create a 3-D globe that will stand. Simply rhyming text on the left side of the spread is supplemented on the right by more detailed information about the biomes, climate, continents, and our planet. This might be the only globe this generation gets their hands on!