My Favorite Alphabet Book. Period.

A to Z Menagerie
Written & Illustrated by Suzy Ultman
Age Level: 0-2 Years
Published October 8, 2019

An utterly giftable alphabet book.

Finally, an alphabet book that rises to the challenge! To be honest, I am a skeptic when it comes to alphabet books because more often than not, I’m disappointed. “Q” is usually a stretch and the book tends to go downhill after “T.” But Suzy Ultman makes it look easy in her masterpiece, A to Z Menagerie. 

Here’s what I love about it: 

1. The book doesn’t disappoint, even when it comes to the trickier letters. There’s no cutting corners here. Every single letter has a dedicated page that is filled corner to corner with people, places, and things representing the featured letter. Even “X” has eleven (!!!) examples, including a turtle, two fish, a bird, and a flower.   

2. It’s interactive and multisensory! Each page has a die-cut shape of the featured letter in the center and a pull tab on the side. When your little reader pulls the tab (yay, fine motor practice!), the negative space of the letter is filled with a clever illustration that surprises and delights. In addition to pulling the tabs, readers are also encouraged to use their fingers to touch and trace the outline of the die-cut letter.  

3. It’s fabulously quirky so you and baby will never get bored. Ultman’s word bank is refreshingly original and charmingly eccentric. She supplies the fan-favorites like “C” is for “Cat,” while also offering up “Croissant,” “Cotton Candy,” and “Cottage.” The pictures are just as unique and playful, offering up a wonderful visual of individual drawings artfully clustered together on each page. 

This is my current go-to gift for a baby’s first birthday. It’s a substantial, chunky board book with a thick spine that will make a statement on bookshelves. And the sturdy pages are easily manipulated by tiny hands, and they are sure to be turned often over the course of many happy readings.