The New York Times, December 21, 2014, had a listing of what the author, Patricia Crain, said are great Alphabet Books. Here are the five recommended books:
ALPHABETABUM
Written and illustrated by Vladimir -Radunsky and Chris Raschka
80 pp. New York Review Books. $19.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8)
ONCE UPON AN ALPHABET
Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
112 pp. Philomel Books. $26.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8)
TAKE AWAY THE A
By Michaël Escoffier
Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
56 pp. Enchanted Lion Books. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8)
ALPHABETICS
An Aesthetically Awesome Alliterated Alphabet Anthology
By Patrick and Traci Concepción
Illustrated by Dawid Ryski
64 pp. Little Gestalten. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8)
SQUARE CAT ABC
Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Schoonmaker
32 pp. Aladdin. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8)
Not one on the list is this Grandma’s favorite, which was an awarding winner in a previous year:
Animalia by Graeme Base.
Looking at the reviews, I now remember that it won for the illustrations and the reviews say that the book appeals to adults as well as children. I think this alphabet book appeals to adults more than children.
I think there are better ways to learn the alphabet than an alphabet book. It is almost as if the alphabet book should be the icing on the cake. The grandchild should already be familiar with the alphabet before introducing an alphabet book, such as the six recommended above.
It takes five experiences to commit something new to memory. Reading a book five times does not do it. It has to be five different experiences, of which reading the alphabet book would be number five.
Here is what Grandma thinks should come first.
Singing and dancing the alphabet.
We all know the alphabet song. We memorized it early on. As adults, we now hum it as we wash our hands, thanks, I think, to Katie Couric, who introduced singing the song when washing hands to know when you are done with the song they would be clean. This Grandma sang the song to the smallest of babies, and holding them, sang and danced to the song. No one was watching. We always keep singing and dancing to the alphabet songs.
Try this alphabet CD to get you started:
Touching the alphabet.
This Grandma loves the foam rubber letters and numbers that lock together to cover the floor of a room for a crawling baby and toddler . Yet, you can do so much more than just use them for safety. One set covers a 6′ x 6′ area. We have two sets:
This is great for the first experience of touching, trading, jumping and dancing with letters. Finding a specific letter or creating the child’s name is easier, taking the letters apart.
Classic alphabet blocks in a wagon by Melissa and Doug are great for toddlers.
So is the nesting tower of alphabet boxes to be prepared to knock down and rebuilt at least fifteen times repeating the letters:
Preschool
This Grandma loves the learning workbooks by Kumon. There are so many varieties for learning the alphabet, starting with age 2:
Now the child is ready to graduate to the alphabet puzzle, which just has too many pieces to play with until the child is very familiar with the alphabet:
Then, you can graduate to alphabet games. Spot It! has a new alphabet version and there are other memory games, even card games:
Now that the grandchild knows the alphabet, here are their favorite alphabet books. Dr. Seuss, of course!
Do not forget the sounds the letters make as well. Okay. I cannot help it. The best first readers for grandma to use are the BOB books.
Learning is fun. And learning with grandchildren is happiness and
Joy,
Mema
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