ABC

Many of the elements that appear in Jay’s whimsically mysterious paintings—the oversized fruit, the winsome blue crescent moon, the elongated figures with plump midsections and attenuated limbs—reappear in this abecedarian. Each page has the appropriate letter in upper and lower case, and a simple phrase: “a is for apple / b is for balloon” and so on. But besides the named words, each page includes a number of words not in the text: “i is for ice cream” has an island and an iguana; “p is for panda” has said panda at a picnic with pears, pie, a peach, and so on. In addition, there is one item that belongs with the next letter, hinting at what’s to come. All the extra words are listed at the back. In Jay’s signature crackled-paint surface and limpid pure colors, she includes an artist girl and an explorer boy; they have enough to do that an alert child (or adult reader) can mess around with inventing a story once the letters become familiar. Very, very nice. (Picture book. 2-6)