Daytime Visions: An Alphabet

Each letter in this inventive abecedary begins a word, and each associated image seems like the beginning of a story: for A, handwritten text reads "THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER"; spare mixed-media art depicts a bird flying away while a dog barks in its direction. The reader is invited to connect each featured letter with the text, then to consider the interdependence of text and illustration.

Each letter in this inventive abecedary begins a word on its respective page or double-page spread, and each associated image seems like the beginning of a story. "THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER," reads hand-lettered text on the opening spread for the letter A, and the accompanying illustration depicts a yellow bird flying away, toward the edge of the verso, while a dog on the recto barks across the gutter in its direction. What action did the bird initiate? Why is the dog so perturbed? We don't know the answers but might imagine a story arising from this interaction. The background for the spare mixed-media art is the clean white of the page, with each letter -- lower- and uppercase, printed and cursive -- offset like a sidebar on a narrow strip of paper. While background colors are introduced for some spreads (for example, a robin's-egg blue for the O page reading, "YOU ARE SUCH AN OPTIMIST," with a picture of two birds perched on a branch, one singing), the sidebar lettering is a constant. This invites the reader to connect the showcased letter with the text, and to then consider the interdependence of text and illustration. An engaging author's note in the back matter illuminates Isol's process: "I started by writing the letters the way I did in school: first printing them, then in cursive, upper case, lower case. After, I created images to put beside them. Finally I found the words to connect them. Words are a wonderful kind of glue." megan dowd lambert