Y Is for Yak and K Is for Kangaroo: Hampton Bays Graphic Artist Illustrates and Publishes 'The Animal Alphabet'

When William Decker took a graphic arts class in 10th grade, “that’s when I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”

Now, at 29, the Hampton Bays High School alumnus has parlayed that fascination into a delightful children’s book and is planning another.

Written and illustrated by Decker, and self-published on Amazon, “The Animal Alphabet” crafts each letter into an animal shape. Think “I for Iguana,” or “N for Narwhal,” with each letter transformed into the animal it represents.

The letter “I,” Decker’s personal favorite, is colored a vivid green and sports scales, a tail and a playfully stuck-out tongue. Decker’s narwhal has a long tusk protruding from the capital N. Each of the animals offers a lively, enchanting expression. Smiles predominate.

Identifying characteristics are imagined into each letter — the ant has antennae; the elephant, a floppy ear and trunk. A bushy tail adorns the F for fox. The whimsical journey through the letters takes the reader from ant to zebra. The hardest letter to match with an animal? X. Decker found the X-ray fish, its fishy skeleton inscribed in the letter.

The book was inspired by an assignment at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York, where Decker completed his bachelor’s degree in visual communication and graphic design. Since then, he’s been revising and refining the original concept. “We had to make a children’s ABC book, and I gravitated toward animals,” he explained.

He’ll continue that focus in his next offering, with the working title “Number Safari.” Some of his earlier characters may resurface as numbers.

“The Animal Alphabet” dropped earlier this month on Amazon, and Decker reported that it’s already received two five-star ratings. It’s also available on the Barnes & Noble website.

The fanciful illustrations seem ripe for life as framed prints or a border in a child’s room. Decker said he may look into that avenue for getting his illustrations seen.

Publishing through Amazon wasn’t difficult. “Getting the page size right and the cover, that was the only tough part,” Decker said. “The rest was making sure everything looked good when it went online. It was harder with the visual copy than the physical copy.”

Currently working in the pickup department at Walmart in Riverhead, Decker, a lifelong resident of Hampton Bays, likes to spend time with friends and family during his spare time.

According to the international research data and analytics group, WordsRated, As of 2022, 32.8 percent of all books sold in the United States are children’s books. Books for kids ages 4 to 8, like Decker’s, enjoyed the highest sales volume overall, with 88 million units sold in 2021 versus 64 million units of middle-grade books.

In 2023, the children’s book market in this country is projected to reach $2.62 billion.