I am a huge fan of language and literature and adore watching little ones as they learn literacy. Being a part of the experience as kids learn the alphabet letter names and sounds and to read is a highlight of the parenting gig for me. The way their little faces light up with pride as they recall a letter or learn how to read a new word is a beautiful sight.
As part of their literacy adventure, kids learn how to name the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that letters make individually and in blends. So, today we’re starting at the beginning with three children’s alphabet books that we absolutely adore and we hope you will enjoy them with your little one too.
The Winnie-the-Pooh ABC board book is a great introduction to letters for toddlers. Each page is simply laid out with the capitalised and lower case version of the letter, an illustration from Winnie-the-Pooh and a single word starting with the letter. It’s an adorable book that little ones love reading time and again.
For us, the next step from recognition of the letters of the alphabet is phonics – the sounds that the letters make. For that, we love Alphabet by Alison Jay. Each letter has its own page, or double page spread for some letters, with a simple sentence introducing the letter. One piece of added fun in this book is that pages lead to each other, for example the giraffe pruning is on the cover of the book next to the frog. The other added fun, and the bit that little learners really enjoy, is finding other things on the page that also start with the same letter. F is for frog, but it’s also for fish, fishing rod, flower, farm and so on. Each page has extra imagery that helps the little ones practice sounding the letters.
The final book on the list of alphabet books we love is by one of our most favourite authors, Oliver Jeffers – Once Upon an Alphabet. This book features 26 fun stories, complete with beautiful illustrations. The stories are funny, quirky and conversation starters, making this a book that’s terrific for pre-schoolers and primary schoolers looking for a fun read about the alphabet.
Do you have a favourite alphabet book? Please share it with us in the comments!
These terrific books should be available at your local bookstore and we encourage neighbourhood shopping to support local businesses. If you don’t have a local bookshop or prefer to shop online, you might like to consider buying through the links below. These are affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to purchase tiny & little will be eligible for a very small commission that will go towards the costs of running our website. Thank you for your support!