A Is for Bee: An Alphabet Book in Translation
Ellen Heck, illustrated by Ellen Heck
This alphabet book explores how animal names change across more than 50 world languages, including several Indigenous languages. A bee, for instance, begins with B in English but with A in Igbo, Ojibwe, and Portuguese. Each spread pairs English alphabet shapes with hand-lettered words for the featured animal in several languages, while scratchboard illustrations support the visual play. An author’s note considers animal vocabulary, cultural details, and the challenges of representing words from other writing systems with the Roman alphabet. A QR code connects readers with pronunciations by native or fluent speakers.
This book appears on 2 reading lists across 1 edition from 2 organizations.
