Alphabeasts

An alphabet book set inside a lavish old Victorian mansion, where animals from A to Z turn up in surprising rooms — an elephant playing trains in the ballroom, a zebra soaking in the bathtub.

For the kid who loves finding one more hidden detail every single time they look, this book rewards a slow, close look on every single spread.

• Big idea: Learning your letters can be an excuse to wander somewhere strange and gorgeous — the alphabet as a doorway into a whole invented world.
• Vibes: Surreal, lush, quietly witty, and packed with texture to pore over.

• enjoy spotting hidden details in richly illustrated scenes
• are working on letter recognition and the alphabet
• like to linger on a page instead of rushing to the next
• respond well to unusual, imaginative settings over straightforward stories

• Observation: What is the elephant doing in the ballroom, and what else can you find in that room?
• Imagination: If you could turn any room in your house into an animal's favorite room, which animal would you pick and why?
• Letters & language: Can you think of another animal that starts with the same letter as one in the book?
• Art appreciation: What do you notice about the colors and textures Wallace Edwards used to paint this mansion?
• Real-life connection: Which room in this mansion would you most want to explore, and what do you think you'd find there?