Written and illustrated by Denise Fleming, Alphabet Under Construction has become one of the most beloved books in our household. The simple story of a mouse who is spending the month (a calendar depicting his activities is displayed at the end of the picture book) constructing the alphabet out of various materials, it’s both fun to read and to look at.

A watercolor gray mouse is the central character in this adorable book. As he goes through each letter of the alphabet, he creates—or constructs, rather—it out of parts or a method that goes with the letter itself alphabetically. For example, letter “A” is airbrushed, while letter “C” is carved. My daughter gets a kick out of “reading” along, since the simple text is very memorable. Not only is she learning her letters—she’s also learning 26 different construction techniques!

Many (but certainly not all) of the techniques could be used at home, too. And if you can’t actually x-ray the letter “X,” you can always pretend to do so with a chair as an x-ray table and a piece of cardboard as the x-ray itself. The possibilities for learning here are really endless.

There is also the opportunity to expand on activities to do with letters. Now that letter “A” is airbrushed, for example, what “A” activities could he do? Can he do acrobatics, or ace a test? Maybe he can act like an ape, or play air guitar. Make this into a game will surely get you and your child laughing hard.

And if those weren’t enough activities, the book’s author even has her own page of activities you can do! Click here for an Alphabet Under Construction word search, bookmark craft, coloring page, mouse hat, and specific ways to “construct” the alphabet just like the mouse. She even has illustrated examples of each activity for parents to check out and use with their children.

What’s even better: Fleming has written plenty of other adorable stories for us to check out, each with its own set of activities as well. I hadn’t realized she’d written several other books that we really enjoy! The only thing that could make these fantastic learning opportunities better is if a link to the author’s activities were provided in each book. (Maybe it is and I didn’t see it?) Either way, Fleming’s vibrant children’s books are an excellent way to make learning fun. Any child would surely delight in receiving her books—particularly the ones featuring our favorite mouse!—as a gift.