ABC, RISE UP AND BE!

This alphabet book is designed to inspire by example, pairing fictional children with historical figures in 26 aspirational scenarios.

One child fills a recycling bin alongside Jane Goodall. Another dances with Misty Copeland. A third seems to be doing a bit of birding with Confucius. Across the 26 letters, a hodgepodge of do-gooders (and just some plain doers) leads a multiracial group of children through various activities that sometimes lightly touch on the lives and actions of the famous companions. An inspirational phrase accompanies each letter. The stylized art renders many of the real-world figures unrecognizable, but the endpapers provide a list (in order of appearance) along with each subject’s dates and a brief summary of their life and work. The illustrations on the alphabet pages lack any identification outside of a few clues—Rosa Parks stands in front of a bus; Walt Disney doodles a copyright-free mouse—but many are vague (what do Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama have to do with flowers?). Caregivers should prepare to flip back and forth often with curious learners, and supplemental research may be needed to explain why and how the characters relate to one another. Ultimately the book feels like a corporate-designed version of a bright, colorful, and empowering thing.

There are many better books out there that combine the alphabet with inspiration.