Alphabet books for toddlers are a great way to teach your toddler or preschooler letter names and sounds. Identifying the letters of the alphabet is an important step of learning to read. The research is continuing to come out that letter automaticity is important for phonics and one of the first predictors for early reading!
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If you know me at all you know that books are definitely one of my favorite ways to teach children. Through using alphabet books as a teaching tool in your home you are giving your children a lot of benefits including:
- Learning how to treat books
- Which is the correct way to look at a book
- How to turn pages
- How to “read” or talk about a book from left to right
- Early introduction to concepts of print
The alphabet is no different! What alphabet books does your child love? I’d love to hear in the comments below about alphabet books for toddlers you love! Don’t forget to share this post with a friend!
That’s why as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher I always spent the first couple weeks of school reading alphabet stories to my students!
I also have purchased plenty of books for my own kids with the alphabet letters. Just by having these books around my home both of my boys have started identifying letters in print by 18 months of age.
However, in this post, I’ll be sharing with you books to teach the alphabet appropriate for babies through kindergarten.
Alphabet Books for Babies-2 Year Olds:
ABC books at this age are more for teaching vocabulary. These board books are perfect for toddlers and babies to teach letter names and letter sounds.
They are full of pictures and labels to support toddlers as they are learning new words.
You can expand teaching when using these books by telling toddlers more descriptions about the pictures. You can say “C is for Car and this car is red, it says zoom! Zoom!” This will help increase your toddler’s vocabulary and language development.
Here are some of my favorites for this age.
My First ABC By: DK
My Awesome Alphabet Book
A is for Apple
Alphabet Books for Toddlers, 2-4-Year-Olds:
Around the age of 2 is a great time to begin introducing longer text to your child. It will help support their growing attention span (which let’s be honest – still isn’t much), begin the introduction of the plot (beginning, middle, end) in a story, and continue to support the idea of print.
These are a few alphabet books that I love for the toddler age.
Chica Chica Boom Boom By Bill Martin Jr.
This is a classic book commonly used in preschools and for good reason! It is full of rhythm and rhyme to help encourage phonemic awareness.
You can read more about phonemic awareness below:
Also, don’t forget to check out Chica-Chica 123!
Alphabet Under Construction By: Denise Fleming
This cute book is about a mouse that is “fixing” each letter of the alphabet. I love it because the letters are clear to see.
It also works in phonemic awareness by giving a word with the letter sound for each letter.
As your child gets older you can have them identify the sound that corresponds with each letter. Then they identify the word with the same beginning sound as the letter given.
Books for Teaching 4-6-Year-Olds:
Next, let’s look at some great books for kindergarten. These are great books for getting your preschooler or kindergartener interacting with books.
Alphabet Mystery By Audrey and Bruce Wood
In this fun alphabet book for toddlers, the letters are looking for the letter x who is missing from their lineup! Your child can get involved in the mystery of finding the little missing letter.
Shiver Me Letters: Look and Find ABC Book By June Sobel
Preschoolers and kindergarteners will have fun looking for different letters of the alphabet throughout this book with colorful pictures! It’s interactive like the others in this category and will definitely get your child involved in the story.
Come Rhyme with Me By Hans Wilhelm
I love this book for introducing letters! In my kindergarten class, we would read a page as I introduced new letters.
Each letter has a small rhyme with it and a correlating picture. The last word in each rhyme is covered up. It’s the child’s job to figure out what the word is based on the picture and the rhyming word.
These are by far some of my top alphabet books to support young readers. What are some of your favorite alphabet books for supporting young readers? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
Don’t forget to share this post with a preschool teacher or parent of a young reader!
Love, Ashley E
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