MY TRAVEL ALPHABET

Inviting locations around the world fill the pages of this illustrated, rhyming alphabet book.

“A is for alleyways, all painted blue,” readers are told, as a White girl and a tan-skinned boy walk down a blue street in Chefchaouen, the “blue city” of Morocco. On each page, a short phrase describes the remarkable thing about a place (named in small print), with the same two kids appearing somewhere in a glorious spread of color and magic. Ratti’s fluid poetry leads readers from one page to the next, across five of the seven continents, visiting attractions both well known (the Valley of the Queens in Luxor, Egypt) and less frequently represented (the reflective salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia). The majestic sites are wide ranging. Some showcase ancient landmarks; others feature natural wonders (the monarch migration in Angangueo, Mexico) or popular celebrations (the Yi Peng lantern festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand). While the larger text on each page is designed for youngsters to decipher, the vocabulary words (pointed, monarchs) may require emergent readers to pause to sound them out. Lap readers will happily pore over Bergeron’s lovely digital illustrations, which capture the enchantment of each of these places in the realism of her landscapes. Half of the book features locations in the Americas, with Africa and Asia each showing up for five letters, Europe three, and Australia and Antarctica missing from the story.

This tale’s gorgeous images and graceful poetry should inspire travelers to see the world’s beauty.