THE CURIOUS ALPHABET

Stop-motion–style animation sends assemblages of clip art and found objects dancing across old dictionary pages in this hyperkinetic ABC.

Small toys, antique bric-a-brac, Victorian-era illustrations, costume jewelry and like items skitter across each single-letter screen of fine print. “T” for instance, presents cut-paper Tigers leaping over Three spools of Thread, a pocket Timepiece winging past an old-fashioned Telephone and a steaming Teapot poised over a row of paper Triangles (some items are Turquoise). Everything jiggles, changes shape or color, or darts into and out of view, but tapping a “pause” button at any point freezes the hectic activity for closer or more sustained looking. Letters can be selected in any order from an A-to-Z list on the side, and a live link at the end leads to an index of objects and additional commentary on Lutts’ website. The frantic motion begs for a musical track or at least sound effects, but the app is silent.

Though it’s not specifically aimed at children, even very young viewers will have fun watching all the hurlyburly.