Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: Alphablock by Christopher Franceschelli, art by Peskimo

[This review was previously published. It has been rewritten and edited]

This sounded cool and it is, but I'd never put it in the library. It's an alphabet book, each spread featuring a different letter. The comparisons are fairly normal, "A is for apple/E is for elephant" etc.

What's unusual is the design. It's only sort of a board book. The pages are thick but not quite board book thick. Each spread has clues on one side, the image of the item on the other, and in between a die cut letter that you turn and that's incorporated into the illustration. The art is cute, if not particularly memorable and has lots of clean lines and simple shapes.

If you count it up though, that's 26 spreads, way, way more than a normal board book. Also, when I looked at the copy I borrowed, even though it's a new title, some of the letters are already bent and there was wear on the spine (which is almost 3 inches thick) that makes me think it won't last long.

Verdict: Cool, but unless you plan to replace it frequently or don't care that it falls apart within a few months, I wouldn't purchase it for circulation in the library.

ISBN: 9781419709364; Published 2013 by Abrams; Borrowed from another library in my consortium