It's As Easy as A,B,C

The beloved Dr. Seuss wrote this timeless book, originally copryrighted over 50 years ago. It's hard to believe it's been that many years. Yet, that amount of time is a testament to his work. While many of his books are stories about his many whimsical characters, this one is an educational text simply about the alphabet. Nevertheless, Dr. Seuss never does anything simply. Never has there been another book that teaches the alphabet with such creativity.

The book itself is about sixty pages long, but it reads very quickly. The words/text are quite large and very easy to read. It is perfect for beginning readers to tackle by his or herself, and it also makes a great read aloud for parents and their children.

So, what makes this so different than others you may wonder? Each letter of the alphabet begins with the same repetitive question, such as Big A, little a, what begins with A? Then Dr. Seuss answers his own question with a response: Aunt Annie's Alligator.... A....a....A. The repetition and rhyming are great for children trying to learn the alphabet. It also lends to the predictability for children. They know what to expect and feel comfortable with the book. The patterns allow children who are not reading yet to participate as well.

The rhyme and rhythm of the text also gives the book a sing/song feel. It reads much different than just a normal alphabet book. Children are captivated by the sound of the book when read aloud, and honestly it makes it more interesting for adults to read as well. I've read it many times to my children, and I can just about read the entire thing without even looking at the book.

No Dr. Seuss book would be complete without the many famous and zany characters that we've come to expect. There are normal pictures like a barber and an elephant. Yet, there are even more that you wouldn't normally find. If you've never seen a duckdog, a fiffer-feffer-feff, or a zizzer-zazzer-zuzz then here is your chance. Children enjoy seeing all of these strange new characters. The illustrations are by Dr. Seuss himself, and are of the unique style he created.

We do have two copies of this book in our house. We have the one that I had when I was growing up, and we have another copy that someone gave to us when one of our children was young. Interestingly enough, parts of the text are a little different in the books. For example, the old version (for the letter m) says, "Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight... mighty nice." The newer version says, "Mice in the moonlight, M M M." I like the newer version better because it seems to have better rhyme and rhythm patterns than the older one.

Adults can also insert their own text in the book. I would often stick my children's names in the story to add a special twist to the story.