Cocalo, a designer of moderately priced crib bedding since the late 1990's, first became popular for its crib bedding collections sold under the Baby Martex, OshKosh, and Kimberly Grant brand names. Recently, they have begun to introduce new patterns under the Cocalo brand. Alphabet Soup is one of these new collections, first made available for sale in early 2006. Alphabet Soup has quickly taken the market by storm, becoming one of the most sought-after crib bedding patterns available today.

Alphabet Soup crib bedding is sold as a 4-piece set, consisting of a comforter, dust ruffle, 4-sided bumper, and fitted sheet. Additional nursery dcor accessories are also available, including: musical mobile, lamp base and shade, wall hangings, wall border, hamper, pillows, rug, night light, valances, and diaper stacker. In keeping with its emphasis on themed nursery dcor, Alphabet Soup takes an "educational" jungle-safari approach, with the alphabet and numbers featured prominently and creatively throughout the collection along with jungle animals. A wide variety of fabrics is used in this collection, including chenille, corduroy, faux suede, and felt, giving a variety textures in addition to the colors.

Consumer reaction to Alphabet Soup suggests that it is the vibrant colors as much as the theme that has made this pattern so popular. See Alphabet Soup Bedding for close-up images of the crib bedding set and all of the accessories. As you can see from these images, it features a healthy dose of primary colors - red, orange, green, and blue. This color combination can sometimes confuse consumers who are trying to decide what colors to use on the walls. Baby Supermall, an online retailer of baby bedding, provides wall colors that have been selected by an interior designer to coordinate with the Alphabet Soup baby bedding collection.

Consumers should note that a number of subtle changes were made to the Alphabet Soup collection just prior to release - and these changes are generally not reflected in the images that are made available by most online retailers. A blue with white polka dot fabric that was originally planned for the crib bumper was replaced by a blue chenille fabric. The orange gingham fitted sheet originally planned was replaced by a sheet that is a printed pattern of jungle animals and letters on a background of printed orange gingham.

Close-up examination of the Alphabet Soup baby bedding collection shows the workmanship to be of high quality, more than justifying the retail price of the collection. The fabrics appear to be of reasonable quality; the stitching is neat and well done for durability; the embroidered appliqus are cleanly rendered.