Pre-Reading : Alphabet Books

Alphabet picture books are useful for introducing the idea of 'initial sounds'. 'Initial sounds' are the way in which the first letter of a word is spoken.

It is best to choose a book which has well known, familiar objects, eg : apple, ball, cat, etc. An Alphabet book may have a number of pictures representing one sound, for example: the letter 'C' may be illustrated by a cat, car, cow, cup. ( Note : the 'C' is hard sounding as in 'K' not the soft 'C' or 'S' as it is sounded in a word such as 'celery'. )

It is very useful to have a number of pictures representing each sound to look at, so that a parent may point to each picture, say the word, and also say for example, " 'C' for cat ", or alternatively, " 'C' begins car ". Remember the sound 'C' is pronounced as 'K' not 'see(C)' which is the 'name' of the letter.

A parent can invite the child to point to a picture, say the word which matches the pictures that they have recognized. The child should also be encouraged to say the 'initial sound' too.

It is better if the pictures show 'short sounds', eg : 'e' for egg rather than the long 'ee' as in ear. Unfortunately the English language has a number of 'initial sounds' which can be said in more than one way. Another example is 'i' which in its short form begins 'in', 'ink' or 'igloo' but in its longer form begins 'I', 'ice-cream' 'island'. With younger children it is best to stay with the short 'initial sounds' as this is less confusing in the beginning. Longer sounds can be introduced at a later stage.


Looking, at and reading, Alphabet books should be an enjoyable activity. Reading and re-reading the same book a number of times will help a child to remember all the 'initial sounds'. These are the building blocks, on the long road to becoming a good reader !