The selection of alphabet books available has really changed since I was young. I remember alphabet books with simple illustrations and one or two words about a subject—“A is for Apple” “B is for Bumblebee.” We have a great collection of creative and exciting alphabet books that explore the topic from a variety of angles.
Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray
This books follows a cute puppy’s plot to devour a delicious and freshly made apple pie. The illustrations and words are simple and great for young readers or as a read aloud book. What’s more appropriate for the season than apple pie? Yum.
This book is a hoot. We begin the story with Zebra trying to keep all animals and objects in line to be photographed for his alphabet book. Everything is going great through letter “C” and then Moose comes along. Moose is so excited to be in an alphabet book that he shows up in the strangest of places and causes quite a ruckus. This is a quick and very funny read with a wonderful twist at the end.
D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet by Carol Crane (Non-Fiction)
This is a great alphabet book for older readers. It explores China through the alphabet and has both short rhyming text that accompanies the beautiful pictures and longer paragraphs that discuss the topics in more depth. This could easily function as a resource for a paper or project about China for school.
A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet by Stephen T. Johnson (Non-Fiction)who could conquer the word aerobics present on each page. This book could also function as a “Look and Find” book, an example would be—“on the B page, find the broken bowl.” Most pages lend themselves well to this and some “Look and Find” challenges are even written into the text.
So before you dismiss alphabet books or think they are just for very young readers—come see all the alphabet books available here at the library, you might be surprised!
Posted by Meredith, Library Intern
