Alphabet book

An alphabet book is a book primarily designed for young children. It presents letters of the alphabet with corresponding words and/or images. Some alphabet books feature capitals and lower case letter forms, keywords beginning with specific letters, or illustrations of keywords. Alphabet books may consist of sentences, paragraphs, or entire pages highlighting letters and corresponding keywords in a variety of creative and imaginative formats.

Purposes

Alphabet books introduce the sounds and letters of the ordered alphabet. These books provide a non-threatening genre in which children engage in a variety of both fiction and non-fiction texts. Alphabet books provide opportunities for:

Developing conversations and proficiency in oral language
Increasing phonemic awareness
Teaching phonics
Making text connections (Activating prior knowledge)
Predicting (Text talk)
Building vocabulary
Inferencing / drawing conclusions
Sequencing
Identifying elements of story structure
Recognizing point of view
Visualizing setting (Time, place and atmosphere)
Performing Dialogue (Plays and Readers’ Theater)
Rereading for fluency
Retelling for comprehension checks
Engaging Multiple Intelligences through writing, music, art, Dance

Present

Today there are many diverse kinds of alphabet books that captivate a reader’s interest through alliteration, onomatopoeia, creative narratives, poetry of all kinds, clever three-dimensional illusions, mysterious visual treasure hunts, humor, and curiosity. Electronic alphabet books are now on the market, with various animations and audio features.