EVERY LITTLE LETTER

An allegory about accepting one another, one letter at a time.

In a land where high walls separate each of the 26 letters (seen in the endpapers), life is rather monotonous. The H’s live only with other H’s and therefore speak just one letter: H. The same is true for the rest of the alphabet, all walled off and safe from one another. Then an intrepid lowercase h discovers a hole in the wall, reaches through, and discovers…a lowercase i! Ecstatic, they greet each other, but their happiness is cut short when the capital letters discover and forbid their friendship. Disheartened, the two friends send letters (in the form of paper airplanes) that soar over many walls, unexpectedly offering new opportunities to x’s, b’s, y’s, and more. Once again the capital letters try to interfere, but the lowercase letters have discovered that the most important words of all—“courage,” “kindness,” “trust”—are made up of many letters and can break down walls. Expressive, anthropomorphic letters, set in a bright, pastel palette, lend the book a cartoon look and feel that keeps the story lighthearted. Spreads alternate between vignettes and full-page illustrations to keep readers engaged. Even pre-readers will recognize letters set in bold, big shapes, enabling caregivers to incorporate early-literacy lessons into the read-aloud experience.

This message of friendship, though oft told, bears repeating, especially for the youngest readers.