This is the alphabet book that actually works. Not because it's pedagogically revolutionary, but because kids genuinely want to read it again and again. The rhythm is so catchy that parents report reciting it from memory years later, and that repetition is exactly what makes it educational.

The Caldecott Honor art is bold and colorful without being overstimulating, and the personification of letters makes abstract symbols feel like friends. Yes, the plot is thin—letters climb, fall, get helped—but that's fine. This isn't War and Peace; it's a board book doing exactly what it should: making learning fun.

The only 'downside' is that you'll be saying 'chicka chicka boom boom' in your sleep, and your toddler will absolutely yell BOOM at inopportune moments. But that's the price of literacy, apparently.