Like with traditional alphabet blocks the cartoony characters inside some of these clear plastic cubes correspond to the letter printed on the outside. So the ‘J’ has a tiny jellyfish inside ...

Blocks are gender neutral. Blocks seem like fixed points in a swirling world. The simple alphabet block inspired by 17th century philosopher John Locke, for instance, can still be found on toy ...

These carved wooden cubes (imprinted with child-safe inks) can be used as a puzzle, building blocks and -- of course -- for learning the ABCs.