Cynthia Weill, photographs by K.B. Basseches, wood sculptures from Oaxaca by Moisés and Armando Jiménez,
ABeCedarios – Mexican Folk Art ABC’s in English and Spanish
Cinco Puntos, 2007.

Ages 3-7

Promoting the craftwork of artisans from Oaxaca, Mexico, Cynthia Weill’s ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art ABC’s illustrates the alphabet, in English and Spanish, using alejibres, the brightly-colored Oaxacan wooden sculptures of hand-carved animals: each one unique as its designated letter; each one a work of art.

The hand-carving of the animals, we learn from a note at the end of the book, was a family project, involving three generations: handcarved by Armando and Moisés Jimenez (grandsons of Manuel Jiménez, the founder of the Oaxacan woodcarving tradition), the alejibres were sanded by their children and painted by their wives.

Alphabets are the building blocks of languages, and alphabet books have long introduced little ones to their letters through a variety of subjects. By focusing on a specific topic (countries, shapes, cars, you name it) these books feature creative alternatives to the “X is for Xylophone” approach. For instance, “X” in this ABC’s explosion of colors focusing on animals, is for an “undiscovered animal” that children are encouraged to name themselves.

The choice of animals includes the wee (the Grasshopper / el Chapulín), the wild (the Lion / el León), the wonderful (the Quetzal / el Quetzal) and the whimsical (the Unicorn / el Unicornio), as well as lesser-known creatures such as the Wapiti / el Wapití.

Removed from the Spanish alphabet by La Real Academia Española, but still part of the living language, the letters “ch” and ‘ll” and the familiar sound “rr” are also featured in the book, along with the other 26 letters.

Basseches’ excellent color photographs bring the cheeriness of the animals and the sculptures to life, making this ABC bilingual book a zoo/art gallery worth visiting and revisiting.

Aline Pereira
January 2008