Or:
The Dread Pirate Grasshopper Has His First Run-In With the Peculiarities of the English Language.
Ahem.
So The Equuschick and the DPG were going through a random alphabet book, (honestly don’t remember which one) and it turned out to be one of those very silly ones, supposedly for very small tots, that introduces exceptions. For example, at C:
“C says Kkk or Ssss,” said The Equuschick, turning the page. “For caterpillar!” Next page was a cheetah. “Oh. Ok, well, yes. Sometimes, if a C comes before an H, it makes the ch sound,” explained The Equuschick.
“Aha!” said the Dread Pirate Grasshopper. “Like cello!”
“Um, yes! Sort of…um..oh look! Here’s D, for deer.”
Poor fellow. The trouble with “cello” of course is that it isn’t an English word to begin with, but The Equuschick wasn’t inclined to get into that either. It seemed best to move on. Silly alphabet book.
But then there is the delightful:
The Icky Bug Alphabet Book (Jerry Pallotta’s Alphabet Books)
And you can never go wrong with Dr. Seuss.
Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!
For the most part though, The Equuschick and the DPG just write and sing the alphabet. Better luck that way, especially if you’re writing the alphabet inside a giant cardboard box and calling it an Indian cave painting.
(But then, this method works best for little boys who are familiar with Blaze and the Indian Cave [A Billy and Blaze Book]
5 Comments
You’ll love this alphabet song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dvPhtNZCj0
I love Tomorrow’s Alphabet. It may not be one for a young one just starting out learning the alphabet, but it’s fun for later.
“A” is for seed, tomorrow’s apple.
“B” is for eggs, tomorrow’s birds.
“C” is for milk, tomorrow’s cheese.
And so on. Each letter page and its corresponding “tomorrow’s…” part are on two facing pages, so you can see at a glance the letter and the word which actually starts with that letter. Nice, large illustrations, too. I found the book to be an enjoyable twist on the standard alphabet books, and my kids have loved it, too.
http://www.amazon.com/Tomorrows-Alphabet-Mulberry-George-Shannon/dp/0688164242/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361232623&sr=8-1&keywords=tomorrow%27s+alphabet
Dr. Seuss is the best. Jerry Pallotta also has a reptile book that is good. Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert is fun too. Teaching children to read is so fun.
I really like the Dr. Seuss book because it has several words for each letter. However, we’ve recently discovered On Market Street by the Lobels, and it’s wonderful. It’s strength is more in the beautiful pictures and the cute story, rather than in teaching the alphabet, but it’s a lovely story that I intend to start giving as a gift.
On Market Street is one of my favorite ABC books. Actually, it’s one of my favorite picture book, period. Beautiful.