cover image Professor Whiskerton Presents Steampunk ABC

Professor Whiskerton Presents Steampunk ABC

Lisa Falkenstern. Amazon/Two Lions, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4778-4722-0

The typical preschooler may not know 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but that lack of familiarity won’t impede them from enjoying Falkenstern’s (A Dragon Moves In) geeky abecedary. Two industrious mice sporting all of the typical steampunk trappings—Victorian-style haberdashery accented with goggles and cogs, plus a zeal for low-tech industry—hammer on an anvil, collect bolts, and turn a crank (the latter belongs to an old-fashioned pencil sharpener). They progress through each letter of the alphabet (could G stand for anything but “gear”?) on their way toward a goal that remains inscrutable until the end. Honoring the subculture’s DIY ethos, the mice enlist ordinary household items—spoons, a sardine tin, life-size toothbrushes—in service of their mysterious project. Blending the gleam of various metals with the warmth of the furry mice and their antics, Falkenstern’s paintings lend a cartoonlike, kinetic feel to the dialogue-free scenes. The perennially sticky question of what X stands for causes many an ABC to overreach; Falkenstern’s answer not only feels organic, but points the way to a logical letter-Z reveal. Ages 3–5. (Apr.)