Alpha by Isabelle Arsenault- ESSENTIAL

Arsenault, Isabelle. Alpha, PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick Press, 2014. $18.99. This is an alphabet book written using the NATO phonetic alphabet, or the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, used by different emergency services personnel for communication. It matches the alphabet with pictures depicting each word. For example: Bravo is shown as hands clapping and Hotel is shown as a red hotel playing piece from the game, Monopoly. The book has high quality illustrations and it is a really fun spin on the typical alphabet book (which can be overdone). There is a note in the back of the book explaining the use of the NATO alphabet and how the use of this version can encourage exploration of vocabulary. I completely agree. EL- ESSENTIAL. Reviewed by Shay, School Librarian