There are a zillion (technical term 😉 ) alphabet books on the market.  These ten stand out, though, as being unique, special, or simply outstanding.  (You can’t really tell to look at them, but the headings here are clickable; they’ll take you to the Amazon listings.)

1. The Graphic Alphabet

This is one of my personal favorites – and the inspiration for this post!  The front cover gives you a pretty good idea of what the book is like.  Each letter is turned into an illustration of something beginning with that letter (in this case an avalanche).

 

2. The Turn-Around, Upside-Down Alphabet Book

This is a fun one for kids, turning the alphabet – literally – upside-down.  And sideways.

 

 

3. Museum ABC

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book presents works of art for each letter of the alphabet.  For example, pictures of apples are used for the letter A.  I like that there is more than one picture for each.

 

4. Animalia

Animalia is full of amazingly intricate illustrations.  Each letter of the alphabet is portrayed with a whimsical, fantastic image featuring an animal beginning with that letter.  However, the pictures are also chock-full of other items beginning with that letter, as well.

 

 

5. Eating the Alphabet

Eat your way through the alphabet with fruits and vegetables from Apple to Zucchini.  This one is available as a board book and is good for toddlers and preschoolers.

 

6. Gone Wild

Fun, crazy illustrations of letters-as-animals fill this book.

 

 

7. A is for Art

A is for Art is illustrated by an award-winning artist, and is (appropriately!) abstract.  There is some amazing artwork here, that interprets the letters in creative ways.  Older readers will appreciate the art of the book; its content will probably be lost on younger readers.

 

8. The Sensesational Alphabet

Unfortunately, this book is (apparently) out-of-print and ridiculously expensive on Amazon.  But maybe you’ll happen upon one somewhere – in which case, snap it up!  (Even if you don’t want it, you could sell it for plenty on Amazon!)  This one is interactive.  (It’s the closest thing I could find to a truly tactile alphabet book.  A few books claim to be tactile, but they just have a few little pieces of things to feel scattered throughout.)

9. The Handmade Alphabet

Not your typical alphabet book.  This one presents the American Sign Language alphabet.  Each hand sign is accompanied by an object that begins with the associated letter of the alphabet.

 

 

10. Doodling Dragons

Doodling Dragons is the only picture book I’m aware of that intentionally presents all the sounds of each letter.  It’s particularly designed for those studying “vertical phonics” with The Logic of English, but anyone can benefit from it.

 

 BONUS: Alphabetized “Other Subject” Books

As I was doing the research for this post, I came across these two: G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book and Q is for Quark: A Science Alphabet Book.  They’re not really what I would consider “alphabet books.”  But they’re still pretty cool, so I thought I’d throw them in here.  Each presents brief introductions to various aspects of its respective subject for each letter of the alphabet.  They would be a fun way to introduce some complex math/science concepts to younger students to spark their interest.

BONUS: Alphabet Activity Books

These last two alphabet books are not “reading books”; they’re coloring/activity books.  They look like a lot of fun, though!  I wouldn’t mind doing them myself. 🙂

Seek, Sketch, and Color: Alphabet

Doodles ABC: Alphabet Fun with Dots to Join and Doodles to Do