Starfall.com
Starfall Education (2002-present)

Audience: toddlers, pre-K

Format: website

Starfall Education offers ABC games for children, “when learning to read, students who understand the basic sounds of the language can apply letter-sound relations with greater ease” (2011). The ABCs Let's Get Ready to Read is an introduction to letter sounds. This free tutorial full of interactive and audio-visual elements is a resource designed to help children gain letter knowledge and phonemic awareness in a playful manner. For instance, children can hear the variant sounds of letter “S” online or try learning letters using sign language. This ABCs Let's Get Ready to Read program is also available as a free iPhone or iPod app. Companies such as Starfall provide entertaining and educational electronic tools for this age group, but parents can also practice alphabet recognition in other ways using simple activities such as tracing letters in sand, identifying letters on signs, or playing “I spy” with children.

Reviewed by: Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you like this resource you may like: Mr. Wee and Boo by WeeTeachIt

Other programs by Starfall Education: Learn to Read (early beginning reader), It's Fun to Read, and I'm Reading

Alphabet City

Stephen T. Johnson (1995), 32 pages

Audience: toddlers, pre-K

Format: picture book

Find letters all around the city, in signs, on buildings … everywhere! Can you spot the “A” shape in the slide of a sawhorse? Or spy a “D” in outlined park planters? Does the profile of a stoplight form an “E”? Maybe a wrought iron curlicue reminds you of a “G”? Perhaps you see the letter “S” in the concrete scrollwork on the side of a building? Well, you can! Johnson has created an entire alphabet hidden in the architecture of the city. Using pastels, watercolors, gouache, and charcoal on hot pressed watercolor paper, Johnson produces a series of unbelievably photo-realistic paintings that mimic real landscape and cityscape. This Caldecott honored book is brilliant in its imagery and content! Parents and educators can use this book as an introduction to letter knowledge (alphabet recognition). Simply trace the letters with your fingers while saying the name of the letter – or use this book as inspiration and go on your own tour; walk your own neighborhood locating all kinds of shapes and letters found in the environment around you!

Reviewed by Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you liked this book, you may like: Q is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game by Mary Elting or Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood

Other books by this author: City by Numbers, A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet, My Little Red Fire Truck, My Little Pink Princess Purse, and My Little Yellow Taxi

Language Nursery

Baby Einstein (2002), 62 minutes

Audience: babies

Format: DVD

The Baby Einstein Language Nursery video presents babies with short, colorful vignettes in eight different languages: Japanese, Russian, English, Hebrew, German, Italian, French, and Spanish. The video features traditional rhymes, songs, numbers, alphabets, and lullabies by native speakers and uses very simple imagery (close-ups shots of dolls and toys along with minimal graphics), engages babies’ sense of sight and sound. The DVD contains additional footage of flashcards (29 different vocabulary words) and a video tutorial, which instructs the parents on how to watch the video while interacting with their baby. The Baby Einstein brand declares that the videos should be used in conjunction with parent interaction, citing “that parent-child interaction is one of the most critical elements to the development of a healthy and happy baby during the first three years of life” (Baby Einstein Company, 2007, ¶ 2). Additional videos concentrate on other subjects, such as music (Baby Mozart and Baby Bach), poetry (Baby Shakespeare), and colors (Baby Van Gogh). An excellent source for parents and babies will find the content appealing and fun!

Reviewed by: Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you liked this DVD, you may like: Little Pim (Series) produced by The Little Pim Co.

Other products by Baby Einstein: Discovering Shapes, Baby Mozart, and Neighborhood Animals

Dr. Seuss’s ABC

Dr. Seuss (1963), 63 pages

Audience: babies, toddlers

Format: board book

"BIG A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie's alligator. A ... a .... a. BIG B, little b, what begins with B? Barber, baby, bubbles, and a bumblebee." This book is a great introduction to the alphabet, written almost entirely in alliterative words. Children are able to listen and gain letter awareness while being entertained by Seuss's wacky characters. A great introduction to the alphabet, even babies will enjoy the rhymes and children can practice making up their own amazing alphabet as they get older. Parents and educators can even download an iPhone eBook app for Dr Seuss’s ABCs!

Reviewed by: Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you liked this book, you may like: The Z was Zapped: A Play in Twenty-Six Acts by Chris Van Allsburg

Other books by this author: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat, and Horton Hears a Who!