Drawn to the ’80s: The ABCs of the Decade’s Hits Drawn by My Kid

Imagine being able to share your favorite music with your children while teaching them the alphabet. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, for Lori Ferraro and her son Sam, it became a reality, and they’re sharing it with you with Drawn to the ’80s.

Combining her son’s artistic endeavors with her love of ’80s music gives Ferraro the perfect nostalgia piece for parents, allowing them to indulge in their favorite ’80s tunes while helping the kids with their ABCs. Whether it’s “Jump” by Van Halen or “King of Rock” by Run D.M.C., you’re bound to end up with some major earworms as you read along with your kids.

Sam’s drawings are sometimes sweet, sometimes funny, but they’re always interesting. From the way that kids are sometimes incredibly literal (like “Purple Rain” and “Walkin’ on Sunshine” in this book) to the way that sometimes they fixate on one particular thing to the exclusion of everything else (like Sam’s festive take on “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right to Party”), this is childhood sincerity and creativity in one fell swoop, and it’s immensely charming.

Though I think it borders on bad parenting to have any kid listening to “Xanadu,” quite frankly.