Learning | Letters Come to Life

Most alphabet books follow a familiar format. They list all the letters, A to Z, and show words beginning with each letter on its own page. There's a certain comfort in the predictable order of A, B, C, D, E, and so on.  Learning the alphabet is an important pre-reading skill (what are English words made from? Letters of the alphabet!)  Learning the order of the alphabet is also an important clerical skill; it provides a means of putting things in order and finding them later.

Some alphabet books are less traditional.  The letters become characters in a story, instead of a list to memorize. Both of the books in this post feature letters who are inclined to break the rules.

A Call for a New Alphabet, by Jef Czakaj, tells a story from the point of view of a disgruntled letter X.  He sees a lot of unfairness in the alphabet. For instance, why does A always get to go first? And why can't X be at the beginning of more words? He's clearly growing tired of appearing with pictures of x-rays and xylophones.

He discusses the situation with other letters, and demands and election to create a new alphabet.  In his encounters with other letters, some spelling rules are revealed.  For instance, e and i are asked to consider how they like changing places, depending on whether c is in the word.

You'll need to read the book, to see how the letters vote on this issue. I think it's a fun learning tool for early readers, but may be a bit confusing for those who are just learning what an alphabet is.  Perhaps after they read a few dozen of our traditional alphabet books, they will be able to fully appreciate the questions X poses.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, tells a story that is almost like a song, with its rhymes and rhythms. The lowercase letters are small children who sneak out of bed to climb the coconut tree--but things don't go as planned.  They fall off of the coconut tree (hence the "boom boom" part of the title) and land in a tangled mess.  Their parents rush in to help them up and provide comfort and care.  

Lois Ehlert's brightly colored illustrations mesh perfectly with the story. It's hard to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom out loud just once. My son invariably asked for "one more time" over and over again.  It wasn't unusual to hear him chanting the story as he played with his toys. No wonder it can be found in so many classrooms and homes with preschoolers and primary grade students.

Learning | Bonus Letter Z?

Sometimes people who normally write material for adults produce some of the best children's books.  Take New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, for instance. She collaborated with author/comedian/entertainer Steve Martin on The Alphabet from A to Y with bonus letter Z! 

This book is a fine example of the Bullwinkle Effect mentioned in my Hey, Moose! Where is Crocodile? post. This is classified as a children's picture book. Kids will enjoy it, but their parents will enjoy it just as much, if not more. 

There are things mentioned here that very small children won't necessarily understand until they are older, but they'll chuckle when they learn what they mean, because they'll remember some silly phrase from this book.


As one expects from a typical alphabet book, there's plenty of alliteration in the rhyming couplets for each letter. 

As one would expect from Steve Martin and Roz Chast, there's an abundance of silliness, too.

(Honestly, I wonder how they got this thing done. They must have had to take a lot of breaks to laugh, and then collect their composure.  I know Chast did all of the illustrations, but which jokes were Martin's? And who thought of dropping the usual "A to Z" progression, in favor of "A to Y" with "bonus letter Z?" I would love to have been a fly on the wall during their meetings.)

I like Chast's New Yorker cartoons because they are subtle.  They don't rely on just one gag; there's enough to keep the viewer going back to look at a piece again and again.  

Can you think of other examples of the Bullwinkle Effect?  What are your favorite silly alphabet books?