Geography Alphabet, written and illustrated by R. M. Smith

 

 

Publication 21 January, 2024

Since I've been lulled into expecting lyrical picture books with a story, I was a bit disappointed with this book initially but that quickly changed. Like many children's books, it's deceptively simple yet packs quite a bit of info into its pages. This one offers up both words and illustrations by RM Smith. They're realistic without being detailed, if that makes sense, capturing the general looks of earth's many features without striving to make them look like photographs. My favorite, I think, was "island". The colors are appropriate for the feature/place focused on, with a wider variety. All have additional things/items with labels. Those were a nice touch and ranged from things like boats and waves, to cars and trucks, to a mama bear and cubs, plus more. Smith nicely captured the colder climates, too, with blues and white/blue ice features. 

I have to admit, I was curious to see what the author would use for some of the less obvious letters such as U, X, and Z. In my mind, being in Alaska, I was distracted briefly at each page as I tried to imagine how I'd illustrate a book on Alaska's features. Given some of the interesting Native Alaskan names common here, that wasn't that much of a reach, I must admit. In any case, after giving Smith a silent round of applause for using K for Key, as in map key/legend, I liked the choices. Again, all were strengthened by the use of other words/things added to the illustration, then further used in the written description of what you're seeing. 

All in all, a fun book. Not necessarily a bed time story but one that can be used to supplement learning and discussion. And, hey, since Alaska has active volcanic activity, loved the moose running away from the lava in the V illustration. Thanks #NetGalley and #BooksGoSocial for sharing this one with me early. It was fun and stimulated my own imagination.