I really like this little alphabet book because, unlike many ABC books that are just collections of objects or words, it’s a rhyming poem that also tells a story. With frequent alliteration showcasing the letter that is featured on each page, author Miska Miles tells the story of an apricot that falls to the ground and is the subject of much talk and investigation by the varied inhabitants of the meadow where the apricot lands.

Then, comes the conflict of the story when a monstrous hen comes along, threatening to trample or even devour all of the insects and other small creatures in the meadow. Can the creatures hide themselves quickly enough to escape the hen? What will happen when the hen finds the apricot? How will the story of the little apricot end, only to begin again in the cycle of nature?

Young tree will flower, fruit will grow,

While crickets click and roosters crow

And sparrows cheep

And locusts leap.

Young fruit will ripen in the sun

And busy creatures, one by one,

Will hop or jump or creep to see

Yellow-ripe apricots fall from the tree.

The pictures by illustrator Peter Parnall hide a capital letter in each page of the double page spreads, and children will have fun finding the hidden letters as they view each page. The colors are mostly natural greens, browns, and oranges with little splashes of color now and again for the sake of interest—and flowers.

I highly recommend Apricot ABC for your alphabet book or poetry picture book collection. Author Miska Miles, aka Patricia Miles Martin, also wrote Annie and the Old One, a Newbery Honor book in 1972, and several other lovely picture books. Peter Parnall’s illustrations can also be found in Year on Muskrat Marsh by Berniece Freschet and The Moon of the Wild Pigs by Jean Craighead George as well as in several picture books that Mr. Parnall wrote and illustrated himself.