A Was an Angler

``A'' stands for angler, ``B'' for Betty the cook, ``C was a custard / In a glass dish, / With as much cinnamon / As you could wish''; so begins this alphabet book with an appealingly old-fashioned flavor. It features simple rhymes and pastel illustrations in watercolor, colored pencil and black ink in a style somewhat reminiscent of Kate Greenaway. Domanska ( Busy Monday Morning ; Under the Green Willow ) expands a child's horizons back a few generations to a time when ``nosegays,'' ``pates'' and ``shillings'' were common parlance. But the small differences in usage will not overwhelm small readers. There's humor here, too, as in: ``K was a kitten, / Who jumped at a cork, / And learned to eat mice / Without plate, knife or fork,'' and even a bit of history: ``X was King Xerxes, / Who, if you don't know, / Reigned over Persia / A great while ago.'' Ages 4-up. (Mar.)