P IS FOR PIRATE

A pirate-themed board-book alphabet adventure.

“A is for ahoy, matey!” and “B is for booty,” while “X marks the spot,” and “Y is for yo-ho-ho!” These simple statements, with two letters per spread, stay true to the motif, with vibrant illustrations depicting adult and kid pirates. The letter and word pairs feel natural, and many will expose readers to potentially new vocabulary: fleet, galley, rigging, truce, and unfurl. Each illustration tells a short story in and of itself. “Walk the plank,” for example, is a silly summertime scene, complete with swimsuits, floaties, and a guitar-strumming captain. All of the images are child-friendly; on a page labeled “M is for mayhem,” kids throw water balloons at one another instead of shooting off cannons, and on “O is for overboard,” no one is hurled off the ship; rather, they splash about in the water beside the vessel, surrounded by inflatable toys. Readers will delight in seeking out the monkey engaged in goofy shenanigans who can be found on each page. The characters are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A swashbuckling way to learn the ABCs, full of appealing illustrations and rich vocabulary.