A is for Animals

David Pelham's 1991 pop-up alphabet book is genuinely one of a kind. Each letter of the alphabet reveals a three-dimensional paper creature that springs off the page — not the usual farmyard suspects, either, but a narwhal, a quetzal, a xenops alongside more familiar animals. The realistic painted illustrations are beautiful enough to stop an adult cold. For little ones, it turns learning the alphabet into a small act of wonder. The honest caveat: those paper mechanisms are delicate, and a curious two-year-old can demolish a spread in seconds. Some of the exotic animal names will also sail right over young heads — though that is genuinely a conversation starter. Keep it for supervised reading and it rewards every visit.