Over the years, I have reviewed alphabet books on numerous occasions. While alphabet books are generally thought to be for children just beginning to learn letters, this often is not true. Alphabet books use a 26-letter system to establish a word-picture format with simple narratives and sometimes with riddles and puzzles. Quite often, they develop a topical theme.
The latter format is used in one of the most outstanding picture books of the year. "The Butterfly Alphabet" by Kjell B. Sandved (Scholastic) has been described in Publishers Weekly as a "virtuoso performance by a talented nature photographer."Sandved traveled to more than 30 countries over 25 years to collect photographs of butterfly wings and moths, which, under a microscope, offer breathtaking closeups to illustrate each letter of the alphabet. "There seems to be no end to the richness of design in the wings of butterflies and moths. Nature has put an awe-inspiring effort into creating a rainbow of colors and designs in the wings of the 15,000 or so butterfly species and 100,000 species of moths," he writes. Sandved admits that the wings are one of the most complex structures in the animal kingdom. "Viewed through the electron microscope, the scale reveals ridges and lamellations, at times, like miniature gothic cathedrals creating glorious iridescent blues and greens . . . according to the angles of light."
The author's notes at the end of the book provide descriptions about butterflies generally and identify the common names and scientific family names of each butterfly and moth. "The Butterfly Alphabet" poster, which includes all of the photographs, received a Parents' Choice Award.
Sandved's background includes writing articles and ultimately a family encyclopedia on classical music. "The World of Music," published in 13 different languages, followed by "The World of Art" is unsurpassed. Wanting to do a third volume on animals led the author to collect prints of butterfly wings. His half-year venture became a 32-year career, what he considers the happiest years of his life. He has co-authored eight books featuring his nature photography. But surely "The Butterfly Alphabet" is one of the most stunning.
Four other alphabet books are also new this year and need a quick mention. "Tomorrow's Alphabet" by George Shannon illustrated by Donald Crews (Greenwillow) uses an unusual format of "now and then"; for example, "G is for bulbs - tomorrow's garden" and "Q is for scraps - tomorrow's quilt." Bright bold pictures in traditional Crews format makes this a delightful addition to the ABC books.
Posy Simmond's "F-freezing ABC" (Knopf) tells about an anteater, bear, cat and duck all searching for a warm place to stay out of the cold. A delightful bedtime story.
Every garden has a story to tell, and "Over Under in the Garden: An Alphabet Book" by Pat Schories (Farrar Straus) has paintings of vegetables, fruit and garden creatures from A to Z.
"Amazon Alphabet" by Martin and Tanis Jordan (Kingfisher) celebrates the incredible diversity of life in the South American jungle with its glimpses of 26 animals in four-color paintings. There are notes about each from Agouti (A-goo-ti) to Queetzel and Zorro.
Marilou Sorensen is professor emerita of education at the University of Utah.