Discover the ultimate list of children’s books about the alphabet! Introduce your child to letters and words by reading these top ABC books.
Every week, my kids would come home from preschool with worksheets on a particular letter. Their teachers would focus on one letter at a time, exploring its shape, sounds, and the various words that start with it.
And no wonder. Early literacy starts with recognizing letters, and the alphabet gives us 26 opportunities to teach them.
But an excellent way to expose your child to the alphabet is to read about it. Reading a variety of books about the ABCs is a subtle but effective way to teach the letters without outright teaching them.
So, I’ve compiled several favorite alphabet books. Read these children’s books about the alphabet as you would any picture book. Don’t pressure him to memorize the letters or quiz her on what each one sounds like.
Instead, introduce him to a pirate crew set on finding the alphabet and a mouse on an epic chase to track each one. Meet lower case letters as they race up a coconut tree before they come crashing down into a pile. And read about busy peas share their favorite hobbies and careers—in alphabetical order, of course.
Encourage a love of reading and let the simple exposure to the 26 letters of the alphabet do its job. Take a look at our favorite books for inspiration:
Children’s books about the alphabet
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Alphabet Mystery by Audrey and Bruce Wood
Mr. Bear’s ABC by Virginie Aracil
What About X? by Anne Marie Houppert
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and and John Archambault
A is for Airplane by Theresa Howell
Alphablock by Christopher Franceschelli
Alligator Alphabet by Stella Blackstone
Eric Carle’s ABC by Eric Carle
Animal Alphabet by Alex A. Lluch
Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman
The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra
Alphabet Under Construction by Denise Fleming
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet by Leslie McGuirk
Q Is for Duck by Mary Elting and Michael Folsom
P Is for Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
So Many Bunnies by Rick Walton
Richard Scarry’s ABC Word Book by Richard Scarry
Mrs. Peanuckle’s Bug Alphabet by Mrs. Peanuckle
ABC Science Book by Anjali Joshi
Matthew A.B.C. by Peter Catalanotto
Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel
AlphaOops! The Day Z Went First by Alethea Kontis
Z Is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky
The Letters Are Lost! by Lisa Campbell Ernst
The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC’s (the Hard Way) by Patrick McDonnell
Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run!: An Alphabet Caper by Mike Twohy
Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray
Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner
Backseat A-B-See by Maria van Lieshout
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- 7 Benefits of Reading to Your Child You May Not Know
Free resources: Want even more book suggestions? Join my newsletter and grab the Read Aloud Book List! You’ll get hundreds of favorite selections to read aloud with your kids. Get it below—at no cost to you:
We discovered the AlphaOops! Books about a year ago and those are definitely are favorite of ours! A has known her letters and numbers in order for a long time so those ones are great for out of order recognition and words that go with them. Plus, they’re hilarious!
Good points about Alpha Oops, Brandon! It’s important for kids to be able to identify letters and numbers randomly and not just in their string of order.