The field of alphabet books is a crowded one, but Toronto designer Kellen Hatanaka offers a fresh addition with a debut that details some of the quirkier things that happen from A to Z and nine to five.

Hatanaka’s picture dictionary features some humdinger jobs that nicely straddle the line between realistically attainable and kid-friendly (N, for instance, is for naval architect). The author presents busy bodies of all shapes, sizes, colours, and genders. Equal opportunity is on full display with a female explorer, oceanographer, baseball player, and more.

Hatanaka’s style is distinctive – sleek and modern with a retro-feeling, candy-colour palette. The book is sprinkled with plenty of zany visual nuggets to keep kids interested: an incensed butcher runs after two racoons bounding off with a comically long string of sausages, a dainty beaver gnaws away at the L on “L is for Lumberjack.” Double-page spreads allow several letters to sit next to one another, sharing backgrounds and forming complementary pairings, such as “V is for Vibraphonist” and “W is for Wedding Singer.”

Chances are high that children (and adults) will be stumped by at least one job (“X is for Xenologist”), but the only real misstep is the glossary, which puts humour before information. Likewise, two pages of want ads in the back of the book offer only vague (and sometimes painful) puns rather than any further facts on the jobs mentioned in the abecedarium.

Overall, Hatanaka’s inclusive and wry portrayal of 26 occupations turns fewer than 100 words into magic. Here’s hoping we see more from this promising newcomer to the kidlit scene.