There’s always one. One sneaky little abecedarian delight that manages to elude my notice when I type up this list. This year it was almost The Little Red Cat, but I managed to remember it just in time. Still . . . I don’t trust myself. Someone’s not here. Can you figure out who it might be? Let’s review these truly lovely alphabet books until either you or I figure it out. You’ll note that there aren’t a lot here today. That’s mostly because alphabet titles weren’t in abundance in 2017, while you couldn’t take three steps without tripping over a counting book. And I probably should have made today a counting book day, but since I lump those titles in with the other math books, it’ll all break out even in the end.

2017 Alphabet Books

ABC Pasta: An Entertaining Alphabet by Juana Medina

Were you as big a fan of Juana Medina’s book Juana & Lucas last year as I was? Well good news! She’s still making books, and this one’s a pip. Hope you like pasta, though, because this text is rife with it. Really, it’s a treasure trove of pasta types from a to z. Haven’t seen anyone do that one before!

ABC Spanish by Aless Baylis

Could it be?  It is! This is the very first book to appear on more than one of my 31 Days, 31 Lists.  You may recognize this Baylis title from the board book list at the beginning of this week and (spoiler alert) there may be just one more upcoming list where it shows up again. See if you can guess which one.

ABCs From Space by Adam Voiland

Aw. Does this book remind you in any way of last year’s The Alphabet From the Sky by Benedikt Gross and Joey Lee? It’s the same basic premise, only instead of sticking quite so close to the ground, Voiland is conjuring these letters from space. Gleep! The book has all the advantages and challenges of Gross and Lee’s, particularly when it comes to the more curvy letters. Turns out, it’s easy to spot an F, but a Q? Hooboy.

An African Alphabet by Eric Walters, ill. Sue Todd

Say hello to the dik-dik! Ogle the okapi. Linoleum etchings are Todd’s weapon of choice, even as Walters tries to balance the lesser known members of the animal kingdom with old favorites. The end result is a board book of true beauty.

The Alphabet Thief by Bill Richardson, ill. Roxanna Bikadoroff

I almost considered not including this book on yesterday’s rhyming picture book list because I knew it would show up again today but look at that long nose and those demented little eyes. How’m I gonna say no to that, huh? It’s larceny and alphabet storytelling all wrapped up in one nice little package. Sorry, guys. You’re just going to have to track it down and read it up for yourselves.

The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC’s (the Hard Way) by Patrick McDonnell

So this one time I’m attending a Little, Brown & Co. librarian preview, where the publisher typically presents a list of upcoming books and sometimes reveals a speaker as well. In this particular instance the speaker was Patrick McDonnell and after he gave his talk there was a call for questions. Nobody was particularly inclined to ask him any, so Victoria looked right at me and said something akin to, “Betsy! Ask Patrick a question” (I’m paraphrasing here). Now if he’d been someone like Marc Brown I might have floundered about for a bit, but as it happened there was a question in the back of my mind that I always wanted to ask Mr. McDonnell.  Mainly, the extent to which his drawing style is influenced by old Krazy Kat comic strips. Well! He just lit up when I asked that, and I don’t know if anyone else in the audience appreciated it, but he really had just the most interesting things to say on the topic (and, yes, Krazy Kat is a strong influence). I was reminded of this discussion when I picked up his latest book, which I kind of love. Look at that cat, booking it. Not perturbed. Not upset. Just focused and running for dear life. Plus you get some alphabetical shenanigans, and you know what I sucker I am for hijinks.

Mrs. Peanuckle’s Fruit Alphabet by Jessie Ford

Mrs. Peanuckle’s Vegetable Alphabet by Jessie Ford

They’re colorful. They’re witty. They’re clever. They’re board books, so you know they’ll fit into your pack or purse with ease. I’m pairing them both together because having one and not the other seems cruel somehow. Go on. Give ’em a go. What do you have to loose?

Twinkle Twinkle, ABC by Barney Saltzberg, ill. Fred Benaglia

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – what a clever little idea for a clever little book.

Interested in the other lists of the month? Here’s the schedule so that you can keep checking back:

December 1 – Board Books

December 2 – Board Book Reprints & Adaptations

December 3 – Wordless Picture Books

December 4 – Picture Book Readalouds

December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books

December 6 – Alphabet Books

December 7 – Funny Picture Books

December 8 – Calde-Nots

December 9 – Picture Book Reprints

December 10 – Math Picture Books

December 11 – Bilingual Books

December 12 – International Imports

December 13 – Books with a Message

December 14 – Fabulous Photography

December 15 – Fairy Tales / Folktales

December 16 – Oddest Books of the Year

December 17 – Older Picture Books

December 18 – Easy Books

December 19 – Early Chapter Books

December 20 – Graphic Novels

December 21 – Poetry

December 22 – Fictionalized Nonfiction

December 23 – American History

December 24 – Science & Nature Books

December 25 – Transcendent Holiday Titles

December 26 – Unique Biographies

December 27 – Nonfiction Picture Books

December 28 – Nonfiction Chapter Books

December 29 – Novel Reprints

December 30 – Novels

December 31 – Picture Books