Animal ABC by Susi Martin

There are many beautiful ABC books for children. A new title that I like is Animal ABC by Susi Martin. Every letter, except X, and Y, features at least two animals, and most have three or more. Among these are lots of birds. Many are birds you might expect, such as duck, eagle, and flamingo. Ibis and umbrella bird might not have been predicted. "Q is for quetzal, quelea, quail" is all birds for the less-common letter.

Animal ABC has a good variety species from across the animal kingdom. Besides the many mammals, the iguana and viper represent reptiles, frogs and salamander for amphibians, mantas and grasshopper for the insects, and piranha and tuna for fish. Can you guess what a zander is?

The most beautiful page is probably the collection of butterflies for the letter B. The most active illustration is the platypus which appears about to eat a frog.

Who to credit for the illustrations is not clear. Even the writer's name is missing from the cover and title page and found only in the CIP statement. Is the author also the illustrator? It probably will not matter to a child, but as a librarian, I'd like to know.

I can well imagine sitting with a child learning her ABCs with Animal ABC, which will fit well in public or home library.

Martin, Susi. Animal ABC. Firefly Books, 2014. 32p. ISBN 9781770854567.