Performance of Children's Literature Spring 2025

A-B-C’s

Historical Materials for Learning to Read

Over time, different materials have been produced to help children (and adults) learn to read. On this page you’ll explore some of the earliest materials for teaching reading.

The Hornbook

example of a hornbook - a wooden paddle with "The Lords Prayer" on it.
Hornbook containing alphabet, syllabary, and the Lord’s prayer c.1700-1750 (courtesy of Boston Public Library)

This is an example of a hornbook, an early reading primer dating back to the 1450s or even earlier. Similar kinds of items were in use through the 19th century. It consists of a sheet of paper or vellum mounted on a wood or metal frame with a handle and protected under a thin transparent layer of horn.

“Miss Campion” holding a hornbook, 1661. From Tuer’s History of the Hornbook" Ink illustration of a young girl in 17th century fashion standing at a table and holding a hornbook. A feathered hat is on the table and a dog lies at her feet.
“Miss Campion” holding a hornbook, 1661. From Tuer’s History of the Horn-Book

Early Printed Materials

As printing became more accessible and less cost-prohibitive, children were given access to cheaply bound and printed battledores and primers.

Skim through The New England Primer used in the United States from approximately 1690 through the 18th and much of the 19th century. This version is a printing from roughly 1800. Skim through this, paying attention to what kind of content is available.

Now skim through this 1840 primer.

Explore: Early Alphabet Books

The Ark Alphabet was published in 1868 in New York.

One of the most famous alphabet books is the one below from 1886, illustrated by Kate Greenway, an artist for whom one of the big children’s literature awards is given. The book is based on a common rhyme used to learn the alphabet.

This next one is by C.B. Falls and published in 1923.

Cady Harrison, 1927

Which ABC book would you rather learn from?

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What do you remember about learning to read? How did you learn your alphabet? Was there a particular book you remember? What alphabet books above might you want to see more of? Why?

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24 responses to “A-B-C’s”

  1. Denise Warren Avatar
    Denise Warren

    As a child I remember learning to read phonetically. I remember learning rhyming words like cat, sat, bat, hat- which would then be incorporated into a sentence. I learned the alphabet by reciting the letter, which had matching pictures. I recall one book in specific called the Republic Readers Alphabet Book by Ladybird. It was a red, flat soft cover book, very wordy, with basic writing and illustrations. The writing was black inked, while the illustrations were black, red, and green. I would definitely like to see more alphabet books with letters and accompanied a short supporting sentence and pictures that demonstrate a matching action instead of just a still picture of an apple for example. Maybe a child biting the apple. Kate Greenway’s book best supports this. However, I would include both upper and lower case letters and more diverse characters.

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  2. Amy Merino Avatar
    Amy Merino

    I dont remember much about when I learned to read as I was traveling back and forth with my mom during the time from what I know I learned my alphabet in spanish first and then in English with seseme street. Right now I am teaching my daughter and I have been looking into different ways to teach her we have music, alphabet magnetic letters, phonic songs and our favorite book is Boom Chicka Boom BOOM. I like books where it shows animals associated with the letter beause it teaches kids letters and words. I also like when theres some sort of word play/ rhyming as well becasue its catchy and helps them want to remeber.

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  3. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    I learned to read by singing the ABC song, using flashcards, and listening to stories with my family. Tracing letters in workbooks helped me recognize and remember them. I also enjoyed looking at picture books that matched letters with words. A book I often see is the one from 1927.

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  4. Crystal Ebanks Avatar
    Crystal Ebanks

    As a child, I recall learning to read through words that rhyme, as well as learning the alphabet, and memorizing songs at home and in school. As well as handbooks given to us for homework or any educational toys and books my family purchased for me. This is also how I was able to learn the alphabet. I remember a huge book full of Disney fairy tales that my grandmother bought for me.

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  5. Rachel Wong Avatar
    Rachel Wong

    I remember sitting on the carpet in front of my kindergarten teacher while she was using her pointer to trace over the letters of the alphabet. While tracing, she would sound out the letters as well. My favorite book around that time was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom because of how fun it made learning the alphabet.

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  6. Jada Williams Avatar
    Jada Williams

    What I remember about learning to read especially the alphabet was the imagery and real life connections to items that I can label for me to catch on quickly. The capital and lower case letter along with a picture of an apple or a banana and a cat or even a ball helped me be able to complete the sounding out process of the words. I even was taught to trace over the letters both capital and lowercase to help me. Phonics Songs were utilized as well to help me. When looking over the examples I noticed a lot of similarities, but I was also able to make other connections. The Ark alphabet reminded me of the acrostic poems I had to make in school. In the Early England Primer the syllables for children reminded me of me mei ma mo mu. On page 18 of the New England primer the “ blockhead” reminds me of the alphabet blocks I used when younger that are still used today for playing and learning acquisition.

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  7. Synphanie Mojica Avatar
    Synphanie Mojica

    When I was learning to read, I don’t really remember specifics, but my teachers did a lot of read-alouds to help with reading comprehension and Fundamentals, which is a program that uses phonics. I learned the alphabet through the ABC songs and tracing letters. A particular book series I remember is the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, and my favorite book in Pre-K was Little Miss Naughty. An alphabet book I would want to see more of is The Animal Alphabet book because it has colorful illustrations and tells a story about animals that match the letters.

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  8. Kajol Victoria Singh Avatar
    Kajol Victoria Singh

    When I was a baby, I know my mom would read to me a lot. She would buy so many books and line them up by our little bed. She told me that I began talking very early on. From then I had a great interest for stories and reading up to age 12. Those books were mainly children’s novels related to fantasy, magic, and adventure. I still read, but the genre has definitely shifted involving now more religious history/stories, and so on related to my Catholic faith. About learning my alphabet, I’m pretty sure I had a large yellow picture book.

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  9. Aleksandra A Grala Avatar
    Aleksandra A Grala

    I don’t have personal memories, but from what I remember, I learned the alphabet from songs like the ABC’S, flashcards, and interactive books. I remember Dr.Seuss’s ABC because of how catchy and fun it was.

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  10. Layla Ettu Avatar
    Layla Ettu

    Growing up learning how to read was one thing I did have a little bit of difficulty with. It wasn’t a horrible experience but I did just have some trouble as more words gathered in the sentence. I learned the alphabet, The same classic way that they still teach it to this day which is singing the ABC song. The book that I remember reading growing up was Knuffle bunny. The thing I remember most about this book was the illustrations, they made it, so that way the main focus was on the characters. They were the only people in color. The book that I would like to see more of is definitely A is for apple pie. Of all the books this one caught my attention, it had colorful pictures, and it wasn’t the common alphabet. It was words that were common rhymes, used to learn the alphabet.

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  11. cindy ambrosio Avatar
    cindy ambrosio

    I remember I learned how to read by first learning my alphabets. Each letter was taught with a picture and the sound it made. For example, A was for apple, B was for Ben and C was for cat. Then, we moved onto connecting sounds and seeing how different letters put together made a different sound. This then allowed us to read small words and start connecting words to create sentences. A lot of the times we were given pictures to go with words. I don’t remember a particular book that helped me learn how to read, but I remember that we all had different reading levels and we would choose our books every week to put in our baggies for reading logs.

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  12. Sophia Awad Avatar
    Sophia Awad

    When thinking about the time I started learning to read, it was definitely as a young child in preschool/kindergarten, as our teacher would recite to us the phonetics of the letters during morning meetings on the rug. Additionally, my mother is a teacher so even before going to school, she would read to me and have me practice the sounds and letters. I do not recall a particular book that may have developed my reading skills but I know books like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom aid in a child’s familiarity with letters. From the alphabet books above, I would want to see more of the ABC book, as the beautiful illustrations and the instructions of the letters and words that are associated with it would be very beneficial to a child’s reading development.

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  13. Shania Smith Avatar
    Shania Smith

    I remember sounding out the letters one by one first, then putting them together. I also remember being confused about words that spelled the same but had different meanings, for example,e live and live. My father always bought teachers videos from the teacher supply store to teach me. Id watch the videos for hours and practice.

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  14. D'Ella Brown Avatar
    D’Ella Brown

    I don’t really remember any abc books from my childhood. I learned my alphabet with the abc song and word shows like super why and word girl. Animal Alphabet stood out to me mostly because of the illustration. The visuals in children’s media are very important. The books I remember loving as a child had lots of darker colors.

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  15. Isabel Belasoto Avatar
    Isabel Belasoto

    There is not much that I remember when it comes to learning how to read.

    Reply
  16. Salma Avatar
    Salma

    Learning to read was a mix of songs, flashcards, and colorful books that made the alphabet feel fun. I remember loving “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” because of its catchy rhythm and playful illustrations. The way letters climbed the coconut tree just stuck with me.

    Reply
  17. Calista Spezio Avatar
    Calista Spezio

    I don’t remember too much about learning the ABC’s, but one thing that has really stuck in my memory is the Chicka Chicka boom boom book And Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s book. Something about those colorful books, made the letters stick in my mind.

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  18. Aliviya Iskhakova Avatar
    Aliviya Iskhakova

    I remember learning how to read by making association between letters and common words that start with that letter. I also remember learning letters through animals and what sounds they make. For example, M is for moo, B is for baa, W is for woof. I really liked and want to see more or a modern version of the Ark Alphabet because of how creative and effective of an idea it is. I like how it’s the letter surrounded by people, animals, and objects that start with that letter. This seems like such an effective way to have a child form associations between words by having the child recite what every picture represents starting with that letter.

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  19. Zoe Davis Avatar
    Zoe Davis

    I don’t remember much of learning the alphabet since it was so long ago, but I remember using picture books like these. Every classroom had wallpaper that stretched along the classroom with each letter and an accompanying word and picture. Looking at that every day helped me learn my ABCs. I also had a lot of practice work as a child. I was always reading and writing. I remember loving reading and writing but HATING practice work because I was forced to read and write (being told to do something always makes the thing less fun haha). We still have books like the ABC Book and Animal Alphabet, but I don’t see many books with syllable breakdowns. That’s an aspect of the New England Primer that I enjoyed.

    Reply
  20. Leslie Talavera Avatar
    Leslie Talavera

    I don’t remember reading a book that had to do with the alphabet however i do remember my mom and teachers using flashcard with me to learn it in both English and Spanish. In my class room there was a colorful rug that was in the middle of the room that our teacher tried to make us sit on each box and call us one by one to say a word with that letter. Overtime those things did help me out to memorize my alphabet however i believe that the Animal Alphabet book wouldve helped me out since it is very colorful and as a kid i loved animals

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  21. Jacklyn Serrano Avatar
    Jacklyn Serrano

    I remember learning my alphabet by singing ABCs and having to write things down over and over until it stood with me.i would prefer to read the Animal Alphabet because the pictures are fun and it gives a Dr Seuss story vibe

    Reply
  22. Malissa Solon Avatar
    Malissa Solon

    I remember learning how to read using flash cards and sight words, and of course learning letter sounds. The only book from the books above I wouldn’t mind learning more about is the animal alphabet book because I like the concept of letters and different animals.

    Reply
  23. chadeary park Avatar
    chadeary park

    I remember learning to read with colorful alphabet books that used rhymes and animals to keep my attention. One book I really remember had each letter paired with something funny or random, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I learned my alphabet by singing it constantly and pointing to letters around the house or in books. I’d love to see more alphabet books like The Absurd ABC because it keeps things fun and helps kids stay interested. Anything that turns learning into a game makes the process easier to stick with.

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  24. Jairy Arana Avatar
    Jairy Arana

    I remember learning to read with colorful books and lots of pictures that made the words easier to understand. Using the “ABC Book”, I remember how each page had a big, bold letter with a picture and word that started with that letter, which helped connect sounds to symbols. It made learning the alphabet feel fun and easy to follow.

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