We picked up this alphabet book by Satoshi Kitamura a little while ago for my boys, and it's one of my favorite books to read to them. The illustrations are so thoughtful and elegantly awkward. (I'll bring it to class)
Just ran across this playful and colorful illustrator. Check out her site for more, but also look here and here for examples of her working things out in her sketchbook (click "all sizes" to zoom in). She talks a lot about her process on her blog as well.