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An alphabet book is a type of
children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
giving basic instruction in an
alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
. Intended for young children, alphabet books commonly use pictures, simple language and
alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
to aid language learning. Alphabet books are published in several languages, and some distinguish the
capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
and lower case letters in a given alphabet. Some alphabet books are intended for older audiences, using the simplicity of the
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...
as a device to convey humor or other concepts.


Purposes

Alphabet books introduce the sounds and letters of an ordered
alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
. As elementary educational tools, Alphabet books provide opportunities for: #Developing conversations and proficiency in oral language #Increasing
phonemic In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
awareness #Teaching
phonics Phonics is a method for teaching people how to Reading, read and write an alphabetic language (such as English alphabet, English, Arabic alphabet, Arabic or Russian alphabet, Russian). It is done by demonstrating the relationship between the so ...
#Making text connections (Activating prior knowledge) #Predicting (Text talk) #Building
vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the ...
#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


History

The oldest alphabet book known is Thomas Petyt's ''The BAC Bothe in Latyn and in Englysshe'' (1538). The first alphabet book to be accompanied by pictures is John Hart's ''A Methode; or, Comfortable Beginning for All Unlearned'' (1570). In Britain during the early
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
through the reign of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, these books were closely associated with and occasionally overlapped with primer prayer books. One such instance was the 1546 '' Yny lhyvyr hwnn'', the first book printed in Welsh.


Hornbooks

The hornbook, a form of ABC book, was common by
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's day. It consisted of a piece of
parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins ...
or paper pasted on a wooden board and protected by a leaf of horn. Hornbooks displayed letters of the alphabet, a
syllabary In the linguistic study of written languages, a syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent the syllables or (more frequently) moras which make up words. A symbol in a syllabary, called a syllabogram, typically represents an (option ...
and prayers for novice readers. Andrew TuerTuer, A. W. (1896). A history of the horn-book, vols. 1 & 2. London: Leadenhall Press. described a typical hornbook with a line separating the lower case and capital letters from the syllabary. This syllabarium or syllabary, likely added to the hornbook in 1596, taught pronunciations of vowel and consonant combinations. :ab eb ib ob ub ba be bi bo bu These syllables are possible ancestors to the modern instructional practice of new readers working with onsets and rimes in word families. From the first hornbook, the alphabet format cemented the learning progression from syllables to words. An example of the reliance on the alphabet for reading instruction is found in
John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
's, ''A Book for Boys and Girls, or Country Rhymes for Children.''
: To those who are in years but Babes I bow : My Pen to teach them what the Letters be, : And how they may improve their A. B. C. : Nor let my pretty Children them despise. : All needs must there begin, that would be wise, : Nor let them fall under Discouragement, : Who at their hornbook stick, and time hath spent, : Upon that A. B. C., while others do : Into their primer or their
Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters w ...
go.
As referenced in this verse, it was an expectation of the period that "babes" began as readers with knowledge of the alphabet. Armed with the letters of the alphabet from the hornbook, children encountered other early forms of reading materials. The child's alphabet book is considered one of the oldest literary genres of American literature.


Battledores

The battledore was an instrument like a small racket, used for playing badminton. The term was applied to the wooden or cardboard tablets, which gradually replaced the hornbook as a device for teaching children to read. The wording printed on them varied greatly, but usually featured an alphabet, and, unlike the hornbook, entertainment was provided as well as instruction in the form of illustrations. They first appeared in the 1750s and were produced until the middle of the nineteenth century. The battledore was a more complex type of horn book printed on thick paper folded in three parts containing enlarged text with word to object illustrations for each of the capital letters bordering the four sides. The letter-word associations provide insight into eighteenth century religious and sociocultural priorities. :A is represented by an image of an Angel :J Judge :K King :M Mitre (religious headwear) :Q Queen :T Turk :X Xerxes :Z Zeal (kneeling figure with open prayer book) Tuer's ''Royal Battledore'' illustrated the lower case alphabet letters with a for Apple; j, k, q, and x for Judge, King, Queen and Xerxes; m for Mouse and z for Zany jester. In fact, some battledores' upper and lower borders contained this rhyme:
: He that ne'er learns his ABC, : For ever will a Blockhead be. : But he that learns these Letters fair, : Shall have a Coach to take the Air.
There is evidence of a gradual shift to more secular topics for general reading instruction from predominantly religious material.


Primers and spellers

Experienced with both hornbooks and battledores, children graduated on to the modern concept of a small book, multiple paper pages covered with a thick, protective layer. Early reading booklets or religious primers contained both the alphabet and increasingly complicated lists of alphabetized syllables along with selected excerpts from the Bible. From tablet to booklet, the ABC format served as the most common framework for additional reading materials. The first church primers paralleled the introduction of school textbooks known as "the ABC".Smith, N. B. (2002). American reading instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. p. 7 Both colonial primers and ABC spellers employed the alphabet as an organizational feature for literacy instruction and spiritual study. Originally imported from England, children's reading textbooks aligned with the educational emphasis on the alphabet. While students were first trained to recite the alphabet, moralistic readings were framed around the letters of the alphabet. During the American colonial period the more secular "ABC" spellers quickly fell out of favor in comparison with the more religious primers; nevertheless, the alphabet remained the most systematic means of ordering the written contents of schoolbooks.


The New England Primer

Dating back to 1683, the '' New England Primer'' contained rhyming couplets for each letter of the alphabet. These patterned rhymes were often supported by gloomy woodcut illustrations. The content of these paired lines varied from overwhelmingly religious to somewhat secular depending upon the particular version of the New England Primer. The standard ''Primer'' beginning 'In
Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
's fall, we sinned all' remained consistent throughout the numerous published texts; however, rhymes were occasionally edited for religious or political purposes, as demonstrated by the 1729 edition of the New England Primer. The passage, 'our KING the good, No man of blood' illustrated the letter KSmith, N. B. (2002). American reading instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. p. 21-2 Due to the conflict with the English monarchy, The K couplet was altered and appeared in the revised 1777 edition as 'Proud Korah's troop, was swallowed up.'New England Primer 1777 ed. online
/ref> Similarly, in the same 1777 version, 'The dog will bite, a thief at night' was replaced by a Biblical reference. 'The deluge drowned the earth around' was inserted for 'the watchful dog'. Referring to
mortal sin A mortal sin ( la, peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads t ...
, the original U for ' Uriah's beauteous wife made David seek his life' was censored by omitting U and skipping to V. The alphabet letters were used to teach the moral code aspired by society and religion. In the ''New England Primer'', the couplets were followed by alphabetized Biblical sentences; the "Alphabet of Lessons for Youth" was designed for further reading practice and lifelong moral instruction. Both the 1777 and 1843 editions of the Primer maintained the same sentence excerpts from the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
. The following are a few examples highlighting letters A, D, K and U: : A Wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. : DO not the abominable thing which I hate saith the Lord. : KEEP thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. : UPON the wicked, God shall rain an horrible tempest. Clearly, the immensely popular ''New England Primer'' continued to influence educational practice even beyond the revolutionary period. Of parallel longevity, the battledore continued to be published well into the 18th century. Believed to be the inventor of battledores in 1746, Benjamin Collins actually printed 100,000 copies between 1771 and 1780


Versions of The Child’s New Plaything

Exemplifying the move away from strictly religious texts to more moral works, an outstanding example of the next generation of readers was the 1742 version of ''The Child’s New Plaything''. Sensitive to a youthful audience, the anonymous author introduced the alphabet with a lettered story about an appetizing apple pie. :A Apple-Pye. :B bit it. :C cut it. :D divided it. :E eat it. :F fought for it. :G got it. :H had it. :I it'd it. :J join’d for’t. :K kept it. :L long’d for’t. :M mourn’d for’t. :N nodded at it. :O open’d it. :P peep’d in’t. :Q quarter’d it. :R run for’t. :S snatch’d it. :T turn’d it. :U use'd it. :V view’d it. :W what'd it. :X excite'd it. :Y you'd it. :Z zone it. & I wish I had a Piece of it now in my Hand.Monaghan, E. J. (2005). Learning to read and write in colonial America. Amhurst, MA:
University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...
. p. 315)
Later versions of the rhyme, now known as the
Apple Pie ABC Apple Pie ABC is an old and enduring English alphabet book, alphabet rhyme for children which has gone through several variations since the 17th century. History The Apple Pie ABC is a simple rhyme meant to teach children the order of the alphab ...
, became more elaborate and diversified. In addition, ''The Child’s New Plaything'' contained the alphabet story, ''A was an Archer'',www.library.sfsu.edu
/ref> which was also to go through many later editions.


Present

Alphabet books can make use of alliteration,
onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
, creative
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional ( memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc ...
,
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
,
illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may oc ...
s, treasure hunts and humor to hold a reader's interest. Electronic alphabet books are now on the market, with various animations and audio features. However, some educators have criticised alphabet books for focusing on teaching the names of the letters, which often sound different from the sounds they produce, as interfering with the process of learning to read.


See also

* Runa ABC - Swedish alphabet book with runes, first published in 1611 * Abckiria - Finnish alphabet book * Abecedar - Macedonian alphabet book *
Primer (textbook) A primer (in this sense usually pronounced , sometimes , usually the latter in modern British English) is a first textbook for teaching of reading, such as an alphabet book or basal reader. The word also is used more broadly to refer to any boo ...
* Hornbook *
Animalia (book) ''Animalia'' is an illustrated children's book by Graeme Base. It was originally published in 1986, followed by a tenth anniversary edition in 1996, and a 25th anniversary edition in 2012. Over four million copies have been sold worldwide. A s ...
Alliterative animal alphabet *
Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Basal reader *
The Gashlycrumb Tinies ''The Gashlycrumb Tinies: or, After the Outing'' is an alphabet book written by Edward Gorey that was first published in 1963 as the first of a collection of short stories called '' The Vinegar Works'', the eleventh work by Gorey. The book tells t ...
- American alphabet book depicting the deaths of 26 children.


References


External links


University of Washington collection of primers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alphabet Book * Books by type Books Linguistics textbooks