Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America

Many Nationas: An Alphabet of Native America by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Robert F. Goetzl has a single sentence for each letter of the alphabet accompanied by the style of illustration and background shown on the front cover. Some illustrations, such as the one for B, "Blackfeet riders following buffalo herds", span a two-page spread. However, the majority have a letter on each single page. Many of the letters selected are for the names of tribes, which provides readers with a glimpse into the rich, diverse history. However, a small portion of the alphabet does not feature tribes, but rather other important aspects, such as animals. The V is "Visions of the future held in each child's eye," and the X is "X marking the four directions from which we all come." 

The final page in the book contains an author's note in which he describes his purpose was indeed to "help children recognize the diversity of Native Americans." He discussed the difference between the number of tribes prior to Columbus compared to the number of tribes that most readers are familiar with. He also wanted to demonstrate common threads, such as the "respect for the natural world." The author continues to provide a little bit of background for some of the illustrations; however, he concludes that the book was only able to portray "a handful of the hundreds of surviving nations of Native America." He then expresses that he hopes the book will prompt readers to "respect and learn more about the many original nations of our land." 

As a reader, I did notice that it has captivating pictures along with short text that provides glimpses into the range of information that readers can consider and discover about Native American tribes. This alphabet book could be used in various grade levels. While many might often consider it for the lower grades because of the limited text, I can also see it as being effective as a read aloud at the start of a unit for older grades, allowing them to consider how they can expand what they already know about Native Americans. The illustrations aid in being able to capture a wide audience. 

Bruchac has written many books related to Native Americans, so teachers would be able to create text sets or an author study considering the age range. For example, for older readers, the text set could include some of his picture books, such as this one that would still have illustrations appealing to older readers along with some of his novels, while a text set for younger readers could feature his picture books. I have wanted to read his, Code Talkers: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two for a long time. 

D is for Drinking Gourd

D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet by Nancy I. Sanders and illustrated by E. B. Lewis caught my attention because I had recently read Gathering the Sun, another cultural alphabet book. I also absolutely loved the cover image.

The inside of the book has art consistent with the style that caught my attention on the cover. Aside from the art, another aspect that I loved right away was that each page told part of history and/or contributions that African Americans have made in the US. Letters featured a range of aspects such as: Harlem Renaissance, inventors, jazz, the Little Rock Nine, athletes, organizations, and holidays. Some pages had celebratory tones, while others were more somber, sharing difficult aspects of history.

With the letter A, the left hand side of the two-page spread had four lines of poetry, "'Let our people go!' they cried / in speeches or with a pen in hand. / A is for abolitionists / who were willing to take a stand." The featured letter, A, was in a larger font to catch the reader's attention. The water color image spanned the two page spread, but about 1/3 of the right hand page was set off by a solid background color. It had the featured letter in upper and lower case in large text, followed by more historical information in smaller font than the rest of the page. Many of the pages followed this same set up, while others featured two letters, each with the same components on a single page, rather than the double-page spread. As such the lay-out of the book was crisp, consistent.


When I got to letter E, I realized that at least 2 of the four lines of each of the poetry rhymed. As such, there is another added layer to the text, including both poetry and expository writing, making it a perfect mentor text for multi-genre writing.


I always love books like this when I find them because they can be read and enjoyed in multiple ways for multiple age groups and reading levels. For example, it is perfectly fine for some readers to simply read the left hand statements, while others will read all of the text, and some might elect to read the right hand text for the information that especially piques their interest.

While this book is appropriate for older primary readers, it would also provide a lot of background information for older students. For example, I can picture it being valuable for middle schoolers interested in any of the various aspects of history mentioned in the book. When reading the information correlated with the letter F, discussing African American's role in wars in the US, I thought about how it would complement books such as Laurie Halse Anderson's Chains. Other pages made me think of Christopher Paul Curtis' books. This is a book that I will want to buy a copy of for my 6th-8th grade classroom library!

Eating the Alphabet

Lois Ehlert is one of the authors that I frequently notice when I am reading resources about emergent literacy, so I wanted to look for her books at our public library. One of them was Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z.

The end papers have small images of various fruits and vegetables in neatly arranged rows, while the title page has a silly face made out of fruits and vegetables, a sure hook for young kids.

After the following introduction on the first page, "Apple to Zucchini, come take a look. Start eating your way through this alphabet book," the rest of the book features fruits and vegetable words letter by letter, along with colorful watercolor illustrations. Each fruit and vegetable name is written twice, once in all capitals and again in all lower case letters.

Though there are many everyday fruits and vegetables, there are others that are less common, such as: gooseberry, kumquat, quince, and radicchio. Of course, what seems everyday or rare for me could be the opposite for others. Some that are common to me now, such as jicama and mango, were an everyday aspect of my husband's childhood and unknown to me until I was an adult. I love that a book like this can open up conversations with the girls about differences in their parents' childhoods. In a school context, kids could talk about which foods they are familiar with. In addition, I love that the end of the book has a glossary of the fruits and vegetables in the book, providing details about those that had me wondering.

This book has a lot to offer. The use of capitals and lower case can help students become aware of letter counterparts, noticing the connections of different ways to write the same letter. In addition, the book would be a perfect fit for a food themed unit. I especially like that the focus was narrowed to fruits and vegetables, so it could also fit in with a health related unit, rather than just food in general. When my oldest was first born I received Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup, which would be a great book to pair up with Eating the Alphabet for food-related units.

Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English

Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English by Alma Flor Ada shows many aspects of Mexican and Mexican American culture through realistic illustrations. The bulk of the text features aspects related to field work; however, it also includes values, such as honor and pride, as well as other aspects.

The words featured match up to the Spanish alphabet. While at times the translated word in English starts with the same letter, some are different in English, such as duraznos and peaches. In addition, letters distinct to the Spanish alphabet are included. Flor Ada explained why she decided to include Ch and Ll in the alphabet on the first page, "By the year 2000, to make it easier for computers to alphabetize text, Ch and Ll will no longer be considered separate letters in the Spanish alphabet. They have been retained here as unripe fruit, not yet ready to be taken from the tree, since all of us who love our language and the traditions it keeps alive will need some time to grow accustomed to this change" (n.p.).

I first saw illustrator Simón Silva's work in La Mariposa and loved his style, so I was excited to see that same style in this book. The combination of the illustrations and the text set a celebratory, as well as nostalgic tone. Aside from the words that align with the alphabet, there is an accompanying poem for each letter. While many of the poems have a similar style, some are distinct, providing readers with a range of possibilities with poetry. While some poems are free verse, others follow repetitive patterns, such as, "Pride", which repeats the verse starter "Proud of [...]". Teachers could read the book with students for general enjoyment, but then they could also pull out specific poems as part of a genre study. Classes (or small groups or individuals) could write their own Pride poems, which if they are related to family and culture as the one in the book, could then be used as a piece of writing as a gift.