Search and Find Alphabet of Alphabets; AJ Wood & Mike Jolley, illustrated by Allan Sanders

Alphabet of Alphabets is superb introduction to the world of letters and the alphabet and I’m a massive fan. Alphabet of Alphabets is a glorious journey through the twenty-six letters of the alphabet and readers will be an alphabet expert by the end of this book or to give them their proper name, they will be an Alphabetarian.

Each letter is given it’s own page or double page spread and in each spread there are things to find for all twenty-six letters of the alphabet. B is for Birds and you’ve guessed it, you need to find the name of a bird for each letter of the alphabet. Can you find a Cockatoo, a Grouse, a Nightingale, a Swan and a Woodpecker? And more importantly can you find the birds in alphabetical order. E is for Earth and hiding on this delightful double page spread are two alphabets. One is much like B is for Birds where readers must spot the features of earth in alphabetical order. The other is much harder as readers must create a second alphabet by spotting different images. M for Museum flips things around in that readers are given the names of things in alphabetical order and they must find these things in the museum. S is for School requires readers to work out the alphabet object that belongs to each child. To keep the level of challenge up the children are not seated in alphabetical order so readers are tasked with finding the children in the correct order and then identifying the alphabet image. Harry Houseman is wearing headphones, Olivia Ogilvie has an orange and Xavier Xanthus is sitting an eXam (the book acknowledges at the start that sometimes a little bit of creativity is called for as not many words begin with X).

I love the subtle variations in the challenges throughout the book while all the focus remains on learning the alphabet. It certainly is a fun and interactive way to learn the A, B, C’s. There are lots of additional challenges too, like finding the mischievous mouse who sneaks into every picture and spotting a number that appears in every spread, really observant readers may spot the relevance of each number too.

With beautiful illustrations that pack a great deal of humour, this fun, interactive and educational book will appeal to all young children. Even though the book is produced for young readers I really like that the author does not shy away from using more challenging language. Get ready to learn about the exosphere, an isopod, a Uakari, Xenops and a zamboni and many other delightful words.

Alphabet of Alphabets is a fabulous way for young children to learn and consolidate their knowledge of letters and the alphabet. The book is published as a large format coffee-table sized book with thick pages that will hold up to the exploration of little fingers. 

Recommended for 4+.