Title: A Is For Bee: An Alphabet Book In Translation
Author & Illustrator: Ellen Heck
Published: November 1 2022
Publisher: Allen and Unwin/Pushkin Press
Readership: Children (Picturebook)
Rating: ★★★★★
RRP: $24.99
I received a copy of A Is For Bee from Allen and Unwin for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
What letter does the word bee start with?
If you said “B” you’re right – in English!
But in many, many languages, it actually starts with A.
Bee is Anu in Igbo.
Ari in Turkish.
Aamoo in Ojibwe.
And Abelha in Portuguese.
Come and explore the gorgeous variations in the ways we talk about familiar things, unified and illuminated through Ellen Heck’s eye-catching, graphic scratchboard details and hidden letterforms.
Not all alphabet books are created equal… and A Is For Bee is probably going to take top-place amongst them for me for a very long time.
This incredible alphabet book looks at words in translation – specifically animals – and uses it as an opportunity to teach children that just because a word begins with a letter in English, doesn’t mean that it always begins with that letter (or sound) in another language. It’s a joyful celebration of animals and languages from around the world and is just visually stunning.
I love picture books illustrations and Ellen Heck’s artwork in this book is absolutely incredible – it’s bold, brightly coloured and engaging. The typography is fun and it’s a book that I spent quite a bit of time just looking at the details.
I also love that a website has been put together where you can hear each word in a different language spoken aloud. There’s a link in the book with how to find it and while it’s still under construction, plenty of the words are already available – and if you’re anything like me and you’re someone who wants to be able to better pronounce words in languages other than your own, it’s going to be a great resource.
Definitely one to add to any picturebook collection!
Noveltea Corner 