An alphabet is the set of symbols used in a system of written language. In English, there are 26 letters in the alphabet of which five are vowels – ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’ – and 21 are consonants – ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘d’, ‘f’, ‘g’, ‘h’, ‘j’, ‘k’, ‘l’, ‘m’, ‘n’, ‘p’, ‘q’, ‘r’, ‘s’, ‘t’, ‘v’, ‘w’, ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’. As there are 44 phonemes (units of sound) and only 26 letters of the alphabet, some sounds are represented by combining letters. The Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics (2006) guides schools towards a structured programme to teach children all the sound symbol correspondences.
From medieval times up until the eighteenth century children learnt to read with the help of alphabet books. Many early primers consisted of a flat piece of wood with a sheet of paper covered by a layer of transparent horn – hence their name, horn books. The alphabet was accompanied by prayers as reading and religion were linked. By the nineteenth century illustrators were producing beautiful alphabet picture books, for example Kate Greenaway’s A Apple Pie (1886).
The twentieth century brought some excellent alphabet books and friezes. Favourites for the nursery/reception age group include John Burningham’s ABC (Jonathan Cape, 1964), Dick Bruna’s b is for bear (Methuen, 1971) and Brian Wildsmith’s ABC (Oxford University Press,
A is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu and W is for World by Kathryn Cave, both published by Frances Lincoln, are photographic alphabets which also teach children about distinctive environments and the people who live in them.
1995). Some of the books are enjoyed as toys – Robert Crowthers’s The Most Amazing Hide-and-Seek Alphabet (1977) is delightfully playful as the child pulls a tag to find which animal is hiding behind each letter. Children up to about eight years enjoy two life-enhancing geography alphabet books: K. Cave’s W is for World (Frances Lincoln with Oxfam, 1998) and I. Onyefulu’s A is for Africa (Frances Lincoln, 1997). Both books teach about different environments in the strong context of photographic alphabets.
The alphabet provides a major way of organising information and children need to be helped to find their way round dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes and catalogues, whether in print or electronic.
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