Babar's ABC

Babar's ABC is a classic alphabet storybook originally published in 1983, making it one of Laurent de Brunhoff's original works (as is stated on the cover). This is the kind of book that not only draws the attention of children, but adults also. The style and illustrations lend a simple, if not old-fashioned, air to the work when contrasted with the very loud, often sarcastic, tone and overly-vivid graphics found in some of today's books for children. This book is reminiscent of children's publications of years past with its repetitive style, simple watercolor illustrations, and whimsical text. In Babar's ABC, each letter is presented in both its capital and lowercase form along with a cute full-page illustration of a word that begins with that sound, such as Aa for Airport or Bb for Babar. For most of the letters, there are smaller boxes on the page depicting unrelated scenes just for the sake of using semi-alliterative, sometimes silly, sentences of the showcased letter (example: "The bird blows out the candles on the birthday cake" for the letter B). I personally find these sentences to be minimally helpful as they bear absolutely no connection to the main word and illustration and, if a letter makes more than one sound, the sentences often do not contain words using both the soft and hard sounds. Further, my 2-1/2 year old, who absolutely adores this book above all others, shows no interest in these little asides. However, as indifferent to the sentence boxes as I am, it irritates me that as the end of the alphabet approaches there are no boxes for the letters V, W, X, and Y. It completely breaks up the pattern and style of the book and each time we arrive at this point in the work I can't help but imagine a harried Laurent de Brunhoff scurrying to meet some sort of a deadline and skipping ahead to Z, leaving the four previous letters to utter neglect. Overall, I recommend this book as one of many introductions to the alphabet for toddlers and young preschoolers since my own child enjoys it so much. The illustrations are fun and light, as is the work itself. However, I'm sure that it isn't the best ABC book out there, so supplement as necessary to ensure that your child is exposed to the letter sounds in all their varieties as well as richer literary works that may be more effective.