Michael Caligiuri is the school librarian at the Florence Sawyer School in Bolton, and a recipient of a 2020 MSLA Super Librarian Award.
Alphabet books have been around for a long time. The first hornbooks designed to teach students the alphabet can be traced back to the 15th century. Alphabet books have come a long way since, “In Adam’s Fall/we sinned all.” I teach in a K-8 school where, in normal times, kids attend a library class once a week. Of all the alphabet books on my shelves, there are a few I read with classes every year and they never get old. They are among my most engaging read alouds.
Jef Czekaj’s, A Call For A New Alphabet is my favorite and one that appeals to kids of all ages. The hook is there on the first page.
“It was an average day in Alphabet City.
S was soaking up some sun, bearded B
was bouncing a ball, R was roller skating,
and there was P in the pool.”
Even the younger kids get the potty humor but sometimes it takes a nudge from the next kid who whispers, “get it… P in the pool!”
If you are not familiar with the story, it centers around the character X who is excited and exasperated that the alphabet is so unfair. He’s always near the end of the alphabet, needs to come after E in most words, and few words start with him. X soon discovers that the Alphabet Constitution features a clause that if a majority of letters are dissatisfied with the current order, a new alphabet may be created. He makes his case and calls for a vote. On the eve of the vote, X has a dream that he is asked to perform the roles of other letters, and like Ebernezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve, his attitude is altered. He comes to realize that some letters do some very difficult work and follow some very odd rules. In its playfulness with language about language, this short tale examines the difficulties with English spelling and pronunciation. English teachers at most grade levels would find this an excellent introduction to any study of language. In addition to its grammar lesson, this short tale explores themes of empathy and knowing your value as a team member. Most of all, it’s fun.
“It was an average day in Alphabet City.
S was soaking up some sun, bearded B
was bouncing a ball, R was roller skating,
and there was P in the pool.”
Even the younger kids get the potty humor but sometimes it takes a nudge from the next kid who whispers, “get it… P in the pool!”
If you are not familiar with the story, it centers around the character X who is excited and exasperated that the alphabet is so unfair. He’s always near the end of the alphabet, needs to come after E in most words, and few words start with him. X soon discovers that the Alphabet Constitution features a clause that if a majority of letters are dissatisfied with the current order, a new alphabet may be created. He makes his case and calls for a vote. On the eve of the vote, X has a dream that he is asked to perform the roles of other letters, and like Ebernezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve, his attitude is altered. He comes to realize that some letters do some very difficult work and follow some very odd rules. In its playfulness with language about language, this short tale examines the difficulties with English spelling and pronunciation. English teachers at most grade levels would find this an excellent introduction to any study of language. In addition to its grammar lesson, this short tale explores themes of empathy and knowing your value as a team member. Most of all, it’s fun.
Some alphabet books I read with kids encourage rich interaction with the text. One example is Chris Van Allsburg’s The Z Was Zapped. Kids are blown away by the intricate pencil drawings on each page and the size of the book truly lends itself to the read aloud format. But the interactive part comes when the word each letter represents is kept secret until you turn the page. This allows for prediction. What could possibly be happening to K? Instead of being passive listeners to the story, students are drawn in and become part of it. You can continue the questioning. If you were making this book, what would you do with K? Would it be kicked, kissed, karate chopped?
Similarly, Graeme Base’s Animalia is a wonder in detailed illustrations. Like the Van Allsburg book, Animalia is another example of an interactive picture book. Each page is crammed with images representing a particular letter of the alphabet begging kids to call out what they see. Although both books employ descriptive language, Base’s pages present a rich introduction to alliteration. Both books lend themselves to follow-up projects. For instance, you can read half the Van Allsburg book and have kids create in the style of the book a page for one of the letters you didn’t read. No words. Then the class could guess what is happening to that letter. In the style of Animalia, ask kids to create a sentence using only words that begin with the same letter. Winner is the one who writes the longest alliterative sentence.
Many alphabet books are created for a specific topic. Alphabet books of this category often include information on certain subjects or themes such as gardening or outer space. There is a very good one called Gone Forever! An Alphabet of Extinct Animals by Sandra Markle and William Markel, that provides information about endangered or extinct animals. There is one in this subgenre that I do with my fifth graders every year after their unit on the American Revolution. It’s called, Yankee Doodle America, The Spirit of 1776 from A to Z, by Wendell Minor. After a review of the alphabet books we have read in the past, I hand them a sheet of paper with the alphabet running vertically along the left side of the page. Next to each letter is a blank space. I show them the book’s cover and tell them about the book. We do the first one together. A is for Acts. I read the information on the page about how the Stamp Act angered the colonies and was a leading cause of the American Revolution. I give them time to assign a word to each letter encouraging them to skip around and fill out what they can. After some time, we read the book and kids see if they have any matches with the author. Sometimes they come up with better examples than the author. Like the other alphabet books that encourage engagement, this activity also serves as review with an element of competition.
For as ancient as the genre is, alphabet books never go out of style. As read alouds, they are engaging. They can be used as a study tool in the way they organize information around a particular topic. They are an exploration of language and art for every grade level. Most of all, they are great fun.
Works Cited
Allsburg, Chris Van. The Z Was Zapped: a Play in Twenty-Six Acts. Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Base, Graeme. Animalia. Viking, 2016.
Czekaj, Jef. A Call for a New Alphabet. Charlesbridge, 2011.
Minor, Wendell. Yankee Doodle America: the Spirit of 1776 from A to Z. Puffin Books, 2010.