An Illustrated Alphabet for the Illiterate

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

“Illiterate” as in unable to read the language of whimsy and
pen-and-ink playfulness? Or the language of nonsense and unfettered
imagination? If so, these 26 little drawings make an interesting lesson
in literacy, marrying an Alice-in-Wonderland sense of the ridiculous
with the enchanting touch of all those faerie and leprechaun art books
that floated into the aesthetics of the 1980s. Some of the drawings and
accompanying text are excellent, joyfully capturing the essence of
whimsy with a delightful dry wit. “A” for the baffled wood
stork—and why shouldn’t A stand for wood stork?—contemplating the
egg in a nest accessed by a shaky ladder, and “N” for a dragon
backpedalling away from a snail are two of the best. Others are weaker
but still interesting, and a few, such as “Z” for snake shouldn’t
have made the cut.

The text is light, at times finding the right nonsense note but
sometimes too precious. This is not too significant, as it is the
drawings that justify the book’s existence and carry it to its modest
success as an example of wit married to art.