The Bi Book

Biennial plant, bicycle, bivalve—“many words that start with ‘bi’ mean ‘two,’ ” Irving begins in this book of terms associated through their matching prefix. Descriptive lines detail many instances in which bi refers to pairs (“biracial” is described as “Two parents to celebrate with pride”). Finally, the text leads to bisexuality, an outlier that can mean “more than two”—“because bi hearts love in a rainbow of ways.” Alonso’s drawings, done using dry pastels, wax crayons, and colored pencils, depict two young figures interacting with the defined words (on one page, a child peers through a pair of giant binoculars). In this brief handling, the creators straightforwardly establish bisexuality as another part of a wide world full of words—and worthy of the same understanding. A glossary concludes. Ages 4–8. (May)