a is for bee:

An Alphabet Book in Translation

by Ellen Heck

What letter does the word bee start with?
If you said “B” you’re right – in English!
But in many, many languages, it actually starts with A.
Bee is Anu in Igbo.
Ari in Azerbaijani.
Aamoo in Ojibwe.
And Abelha in Portuguese.

Come and explore the gorgeous variations in the ways we talk about familiar things, unified and illuminated through Ellen Heck’s eye-catching, graphic scratchboard details and hidden letterforms.

Type: Picture Book
Pages: 40
Format: Hardcover
Publication: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-164614-127-2

PRAISE

BEST OF THE YEAR

The New York Times · Booklist Top of the List · World Kid Lit

★ “A gorgeous collection for linguists of all ages."

—Booklist (starred)

“Beautiful. A book that presents an understanding far beyond the usual ABC crowd. A beautiful title that any library/bookstore/person would be honored to present.”

—Betsy Bird, SLJ Fuse 8

“Children and adults alike will come away with a new perspective.”

—Foreword

“Stunning….The variety of languages and animals will keep curious kids poring over individual pages and thinking about the differences and similarities among languages.”

—Horn Book

About ellen heck

Ellen Heck is a printmaker. For the past decade, through several print projects, she has explored questions about identity—its creation, variability, persistence and change. She studied philosophy at Brown University and art at SAIC. Inspired by reading Lithuanian alphabet books to her son, A Is for Bee is her debut picture book.