A celebration of babies, this picture book features a different infant or toddler for each letter of the alphabet, accompanied by a four-line rhyme ending “Peek-a-little boo!” The catchy rhymes include nonsense syllables and simple descriptions of the babies (kissable baby, giggling baby), although, disappointingly, the rhymes themselves don’t correspond to the alphabet letters. Each letter appears three times on the page: as a decorated capital and as upper- and lower-case letters. As well, each baby’s name is linked with an object that starts with the same letter: Francesco’s fingers, Isra’s ice cream, Questa’s quilt. The most distinctive feature of the book is its multiculturalism, reflected mainly in the names of the babies and their varied skin tones and facial features.

The affectionate nonsense of Fitch’s text is well paired with the lively, colourful pictures by Laura Watson. All of Watson’s babies are in motion – laughing, reaching out for food or pets, dancing, playing toy instruments. Many of the babies wear garments that suggest their ethnicity, such as embroidered collars or piping on jackets from Norway, Japan, and Argentina, Rusty’s Scottish tartan shawl, and the geometrical African pattern on Habimana’s shirt. The clothing designs are often echoed in the large decorated letter, tying the various visual elements of the page together and giving parent and child readers lots to look at and talk about.

At the end of the book, the children’s names are listed, along with their meaning, language, and country of origin. While many of these are straightforward, there’s some confusion about the country listings. Zachery is given as coming from the Hebrew, yet the country listed is New Zealand; Rusty is given as coming from the Scottish, yet assigned to Canada. The pronunciation guide, too, could be more consistent; help is given for some names, but readers might appreciate guidance for others such as Jamsheed, Ulli, and Xylon. These are, however, minor problems that don’t really affect our enjoyment of this book.