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An ideal animal A-Z: Part 2

Ella J Davies

— 2 min read
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A young boy reads the Usborne Rhyming Alphabet book with illustrations of an aardvark and a blue bear

Since my last post I've looked over a few more popular titles. We particularly enjoyed the Usborne Rhyming Alphabet by Felicity Brooks (pictured above) where Mia and Mo the mousey designers get the opinions of their animal pals to build the ultimate A-Z. It does a great job of reflecting the diversity of the animal kingdom (just ignore the blue bear on a bicycle!)

I've also been brushing up on taxonomy with a little help from the Natural History Museum, just to avoid any pedantic pitfalls.

Here's my framework:

  • I've tried to only include wild, extant species; where possible favouring the familiar ones you're more likely to encounter day-to-day in the UK. (Australia punch way above their weight for unique names, check out Jess Elford's Aussie Animal Alphabet). I've only included one domesticated species, you'll see why.
  • I've purposefully chosen singular and distinctive common names, aiming to provide clarity for an audience that's new to language. I've tried to avoid compound nouns and non-English words but there is one suspiciously Latin-looking name because some letters are tough!
  • I've done my best to be systematic and not shake up the branches of the animal kingdom's family tree. Again, difficult letters have been challenging. You might object to the inclusion of an animal at Species-level when the rest are largely Orders or Families but I'm hoping the Pedantic Puffins of the world will be placated.
  • Lastly, I've made an attempt at representation. Humans, and therefore language, is mammal-centric though I have managed to keep them to just a third of the list. Unfortunately, while more than half of all the animals on Earth are insects, my list contains about 11%. Reptiles and birds are equally featured, to match their respective 12,000 and 11,000 known species. It would have been nice to name more fish and amphibians but with just 26 letters to work with I have done my best.

There's an echinoderm, an annelid, a crustacean and a mollusc. Creatures from land, sky and water. Feathers, fur and fins. Spines, slime and scales. Predators and prey, loved and loathed... Without further a-do, here's my list. Feedback is actively encouraged!

I'm going to get my illustrator pal to look at the list and give her opinion on how fun it would be to draw so look out for a potential part 3.

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