ABC
(Walk and See)

Two children--a pale redheaded boy and a girl with brown skin and curly hair--explore nature together in an alphabet book that quietly emphasizes independence and curiosity. Beardshaw makes use of the familiar "A is for..." structure, deviating from the format only once: "X is in eXamine," she writes as the children peer through magnifying glasses at a spider on the facing page ("W is for web"). Beardshaw's friendly mixed-media images are awash with details and textures for readers to "eXamine" themselves, and the children's discoveries--which include a grasshopper and hedgehog amid tall grasses, squirrels leaping among branches, tadpoles in a pond--should leave them ready to do some exploring of their own. Up to age 3. Agent: Heather Richards, Tallbean. (Feb.)