ABC Pasta: An Entertaining Alphabet

In an alphabetical companion to 1 Big Salad, Medina combines photographs of pasta, cheeses, and herbs with scribbly digital drawing to create a spirited cast of circus performers. Medina introduces the performers using tongue-twisting alliterative phrases—“Pecorino and Parmigiano, plate spinners,” for instance—and makes playful use of varying shapes of pasta: twisting gemelli forms the bodies of two gymnasts, and nests of thin pastas often (perhaps too often) serve as the performers’ hair. Vocabulary-wise, it’s a mouthful, from “campanelle clowns” to a “vermicelli vanishing act,” and a cacio e pepe recipe awaits hungry readers. Up to age 3. Agent: Gillian MacKenzie, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. (Feb.)