ABC and You and Me

“Can you wiggle your wrists?// Can you twist from your hips?/ Can you lean without bending your knees?” In a pictorial abecedarian whose visuals utilize the human form, Luyken draws white-clad figures with various abilities, body types, and skin tones contorting themselves into letters of the Latin alphabet. On each page, an adult forms an uppercase letter and a child forms its lowercase counterpart, accompanied by representative objects. Representing A and a, two pale-skinned people with long hair and green stockings each balance an apple. For L and l, a bearded adult portrayed with brown skin kneels alongside a lamp, while a white-presenting blond child who uses forearm crutches wears a lily behind their ear. Occasional interstitials portray figures in dancelike motion around pastel-hued pages’ borders, highlighting specific body parts outlined by descriptive text: “From the smallest of hairs/ on the back of your neck// to the arches/ of your feet...” While not every letter’s silhouette proves crystal clear, this illustrative work may well inspire similar movements. Ages 2–5. (June)