“X” Is Not Always For Xylophone

No, sometimes it’s for xenophobia, the fear of strange things; like lampreys or the British. That is according to a wonderfully dark children’s book from 1974 entitled The Mime’s Alphabet Book which bucks the trend of most screeds dealing with teaching kids their ABCs by substituting insipid objects like ducks for real world truths, like dying:

Certainly a lesson that could only be realized with art of pantomime.

Mime Alphabet Book, 1974 [Flickr - Thrift Store Hell] uploaded by eliz.avery : Seven Deadly Sinners