Eating The Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert’s foray into the alphabet picture book genre delivers a lush adventure in bold colors. The result is a crisp and vibrant dance around the color wheel. While some spreads are calm in monotone colors, other are dynamically rendered in contrast colors. A few spreads pay subtle homage to the rainbow’s full spectrum. The pages will capture the attention of lap readers and those listening from carpet squares, as Ehlert harnesses a child’s eye’s tendency to gravitate toward rainbow hues.  Each label is cleverly repeated bold typeface, both in all caps and in all lower case letters so as to be readily accessible and edifying for letter learners.  Each entry is identified in a no-nonsense serif font. The title page is a goofy face made of a banana and blueberry smile with a cherry nose--thereby quickly enticing the human eye with its preference for the shape of a human face. The alphabet unfolds as a series of fruits and vegetables. Blueberries, beets, and beans are a compelling contrast of purples, blues, and greens. Bananas are bright yellow with realistic, brown watercolor bleeds. “F” is a page of subdued jewel tones of bluish-greens and fuschia-browns. Grapefruits are eye-popping in large circles of sunshine with flirty navels and proud blemishes. Indian corn is a late summer sunset. Lemons, leeks, lettuce, and limes are a refreshing break from cool purple tones—they are an entire spread of vibrant leafy greens and sunshine yellows. A pumpkin pushes the edges of the margins, making it seem big enough to throw your arms around. The overall effect of color and scale is rich and sumptuous. Ehlert does a wonderful job pacing through intense visual spreads moving from golden quince on one side to dark and deeply hued rutabaga, raspberries, radicchio, and rhubarb. The perennially problematic “X” is handled with “xigua” the mandarin for watermelon. The effect is a fun and educational bonus. Speaking of bonus, a colorful glossary indexes all the fruits and vegetables and explains each entry—very helpful for those unfamiliar with currants, huckleberries, jicamas, and xiguas. The endpapers and glossary have icons of fruit in a punctual array, all contributing to the overall clean streamlined effect.  A wonderfully classic alphabet book for every preschool and kindergarten collection.

(alphabet picture book, nonfiction, age 3-6)