ABC and You and Me

ABC and You and Me

Corinna Luyken 2023

Great body book about movement and the ABC's.  The best part is how diverse the illustrations are, showing people of all ages, shapes, sizes, abilities, and colors.  The rhyming words and pictures inspire interaction and sharp eyes will notice the appropriate objects for each letter in the picture (there's a handy key in the back pages).  I'm pretty sure most bodies can't contort into the shapes illustrated, but how fun to try! 

Let's Look at the Letters

 An alphabet book illustrated by Margaret A. Cranstoun that has some wonderful vintage pictures!

Let's Look at the Letters

illustrated by Margaret A. Cranstoun 1967

Bruno Munari's ABC

Fantastic graphic Alphabet Book. I think I originally bought this at the thrift store with the idea of cutting it up to use for crafts.  But then I realized just how wonderful it was!  Bruno Munari was an incredibly creative Italian artist whose work spanned many fields.

Bruno Munari's ABC 1960

(look how fun these title pages are!)

I think this trumpet page is my favorite!

The ABC Bunny

How can you resist such a bright cover and alluring illustrations by Wanda Gag?  Why, there's even a song on the first few pages!

The ABC Bunny

Wanda Gag

ABC books come in all different shapes and sizes.  This is one of the best.

Other ABC books:

The City-Country ABC

ABC Dreams

Christmas ABC

Have You Ever Seen a Smack of Jellyfish?

Henry requested a trip to the Wagner Institute for his birthday.  We brought a friend and my brother (who had never been before and really liked it).  It's a free museum in a beautiful old building (seriously, the antique radiators are amazing) with an incredible collection of natural artifacts dating back to the 19th century.

If you've never been, and you're in the area, it's worth a visit.  They host events that are great for kids and a lecture series in the antique lecture hall.  I've attended some really interesting ones in the past.  The collection has taxidermy animals, skeletons, insects, fossils, rocks, shells, etc...  There's a particularly interesting case that shows the process of making the taxidermy animals.  All of us grabbed clipboards and did the scavenger hunt they provided.

 I like supporting these 'hidden treasures' which Philadelphia seems to be full of, so we picked out some things from the gift shop, one of which was this awesome book.

Have You Ever Seen a Smack of Jellyfish?

Sarah Asper-Smith 2010 

Another animal ABC book but this time with bold graphics and the name for animals in a group. Now we know that a group of rhinos is called a "crash" and a bunch of turtles is a "bale". Really fun stuff!

It's funny how appropriate this one (and the hippo one) is!

Other ABC Books:
The City-Country ABC
The Underwater Alphabet Book
Christmas ABC
ABC Dreamsbnm,/

The City-Country ABC

The City-Country ABC

Marguerite Walters

illustrated by Ib Ohlsson 1966

Here's a unique ABC book, a "turnabout" book that has "My Alphabet Walk in the Country" on one side and "My Alphabet Ride in the City" on the other. Charmingly illustrated by Ib Ohlsson, it follows a boy through the city and all the noise and people, and then a girl through the country with animals and nature all around.