Too young for an alphabet? A picture to grow up with
You don't need to know your ABCs to enjoy an alphabet picture.
If you're choosing a present for a new baby or a young child, an illustrated alphabet might seem like something for later, when they're beginning to learn their letters. But I think there's rather more to an alphabet than that.
A picture can be enjoyed long before a child knows what any of the letters mean, and as they grow, the same picture can offer them something quite different.
A whole world in twenty six letters
I've always thought of my illustrated alphabets as a way of exploring a subject, with the letters simply providing the structure.
A safari alphabet brings together a wonderful collection of animals, some familiar and others rather more unusual. An ocean alphabet takes you from creatures found in rock pools to the extraordinary inhabitants of the deep. And a dinosaur alphabet opens up a prehistoric world full of enormous creatures, peculiar shapes and magnificent names.
There's no particular order in which any of it needs to be discovered. Perhaps a child notices the giraffe first, or a particularly splendid dinosaur. Tomorrow it might be something entirely different.
And there's always another little detail to find.
Something to look at, something to share
For a baby, an alphabet print can simply be a lovely picture in their room, something chosen by the grown ups who will be spending rather a lot of time there too.
As children grow, the illustrations offer all sorts of opportunities for looking and talking together.
Can you find the butterfly? Which dinosaur has the longest neck? How many animals have stripes? And what on earth is that one?
Sometimes it's the familiar creatures that catch their attention. At other times it's something neither of you can name, which is a rather good excuse to find out together.
I think that's one of the nicest things about a picture full of interesting details. There's no particular lesson to complete, no right way to enjoy it, just an opportunity to look a little more closely and see what you can discover.
The beginning of a fascination
Children have a remarkable capacity for becoming completely absorbed in a subject.
A dinosaur spotted on the wall might lead to a book about fossils. A whale might prompt questions about the deepest parts of the ocean. A tiny illustrated beetle might make the insects in the garden suddenly worth a closer look.
Perhaps an okapi catches their eye, and before long there's a child who knows far more about okapis than I do.
That's why I love including unusual creatures alongside the familiar ones. Not because anyone needs to learn their names, but because they're wonderful things to know about.
And sometimes, one small discovery can lead to a whole new interest.
And what about the letters?
They're there all along, of course, giving the picture its shape.
At some point a child might begin to recognise a few, perhaps the first letter of their own name, or the one beside a favourite animal. By then those letters may already feel familiar, attached to creatures and objects they've been looking at for years.
But there's no need to know your ABCs to enjoy an alphabet picture. The letters are simply another thing to discover when the time comes.
A picture that grows with them
The lovely thing is that the print itself doesn't need to change.
A picture chosen for a new baby can become a favourite collection of animals, a source of little conversations, a starting point for books and discoveries, and eventually something that helps make sense of the letters themselves.
The picture stays the same, but what a child sees in it keeps changing.
And I think that's a rather lovely thing to give someone.
