There are countless alphabet books for kids on the market, and shelves of Hawai'i-themed children's stories, from the authentic to the fanciful to the roll-your-eyes kind only for tourists.

Rising above the fray is an earnest, clever little book that uses beloved items from a keiki's everyday life to teach the letters of the English alphabet.

In "From Aloha to Zippy's", A is for Aloha Airlines Airplane. B is for bracelet, as in the Hawaiian heirloom kind with "Ku'uipo" engraved on top; L is for Longs Drugs; and Z is for, well, what else?

Something about seeing the familiar details of everyday life in the pages of a book is such a validating experience. That's us! That's how we live! The book has the feel of something that came from a group of friends who had a good, fun time brainstorming, like "Eh, I know, U is for Uncle! And we can have a picture of somebody who looks real uncle-ish!"

Indeed, the project did have that sort of input.

The concept for the book came from publisher Buddy Bess, who brought home a children's book from a trip to Italy. The book had little doors on the pages for children to open. The staff at Bess Press liked the idea of the doors with little surprises behind, and passed around a sheet of paper to get everyone's input on local images for each letter of the alphabet.

Carol Colbath, art director of Bess Press, put those ideas together to create the book, which has just been released this month. "It took over a year for me to find the photos and design the book," she said.

Colbath also had to secure rights from a number of businesses, including Aloha Airlines, Longs, Zippy's and Hawaiian Sun juice. Not a problem, Colbath reports. They were into it.

The hard part was the little door on each page. The right image for each surprise had to be chosen. The kid favorite is the cockroach behind the door for the letter C. Kind of scary, kind of scream-worthy, definitely exciting.

"Finding the right material for the mirror behind the door for "Me" was a challenge for our printers in Hong Kong," Colbath said. "It had to be put in by hand."

Perhaps the thing that puts the project over the top are the pictures of kids throughout the book. There's something joyful, a little rascal and very local about the kids; in particular, the boy pointing to his eye for the letter E. He doesn't just point, he pulls the lower lid ever so slightly in that cheeky way that kids do, a gesture of small defiance. The same boy stuffs a wad of saimin in his mouth for N- noodles. You know this kid, and he does exactly that every time he eats noodles. Classic!

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.