This is the first installment of my new reading newsletter. As I send these out, I will also post them here. If you want to this newsletter to come to your inbox let me know.
Triumphs and Challenges of Alphabet Books
A lot of the things that come up for me with children's books occur as I am reading them to my own kids. As Adrian is starting to become more interested in the sounds that letters make and their relationship to print symbols, we are spending more time with his alphabet books, around here we call them ABC books. There are many wonderful ABC books. Some focus on a particular topic, for example the ABC's of Airplanes or Eating the Alphabet; others use familiar characters like Clifford's ABC's.
Lately we have been reading through Christopher Wormell's The New Alphabet of Animals several times. I am going to use this book as my example of some great things and some pitfalls you may find in these types of books. I love this book. It has very bold print examples of both upper and lower case letter above the name of the animal pictured on the opposite page. The pictures are beautiful linoleum block prints with dark and rich colors. That's why I bought it; it's very visually appealing. It is important that the pictures stimulate the reader since there is no story to carry the reader forward.
Wormell included some animals that are not usually in alphabet books, probably in part because this is his second animal alphabet book. One problem with that there are animals in it whose name I am not sure how to pronounce (Ibex and Uakari). This might also come up in alphabet books that focus on a narrow topic, such as animals of the rain forest. Remember that it is ok to let your kids know that you might not know something. Model to them what a good reader does when he comes to a word he doesn't know. Another aspect that comes into play is prior knowledge. Prior knowledge is a large part making meaning while reading. It can be really helpful if your child knows a lot about dinosaurs and you are reading a dinosaur alphabet book together. In this book, Wormell uses Newt for N. To my three and half year old son, the linoleum cut print of the newt looks like an iguana, which appears in another book he has. Finally for the letter s the book uses sheep. This presents a challenge. Children that are beginning learn letter sound relationships might get confused. These are diagraphs: new sounds that are created when two letters are combined. I have also seen it defined as a double consonant that creates one sound. Other examples would be ch and th. (Two or more consonants together where each has a distinct sound are a blend, for example sl in slow, fl in flood.) The issues I have with the book do not take away from the experience. Similar issues can come up in many alphabet books. Its important to expose your child to a variety of alphabet books. Wormell's book is still a really fun, beautiful, and useful alphabet book. I applaud books like this one that do not use xylophone and zebra for x and z. (I have seen xylophone used in an animal alphabet puzzle, along with u for umbrella.)
Book Sources
The New Animal Alphabet came to our house via a yard sale. Remember that there are a variety of inexpensive ways to fill your house with good books. One such opportunity are the Scholastic Warehouse Sales. Everything in the warehouse is on sale. My favorite sections are the dollar section and the dent and scratch section. There are some sales going on right now. It seems these sales are better and longer during the recession. They are set up for people directly involved with schools. Because of that the registration may seem awkward. Parents are welcome.
Another good resource for inexpensive books is a library book sale. Booksalefinder.com is a site that lists library book sales by location. It is a bare-bones listing of sales in the area alphabetically organized by city. Many of these sales will have clearance pricing at the end of the sale. This may limit your choice but you can't beat two dollars for a bag full of books which what happens during the last two hours of the St. Louis Park Community Library sale.
Read to them. Let them see you as a reader. Let them read to you. Have fun with books.
