Numbers and letters are the building blocks of all education. Students would never learn differential calculus if they weren't first taught to count, and they wouldn't read The Brothers Karamazov if they didn't know their ABCs long before. It stands to reason, then, that if we want to raise children who actually enjoy learning, we'll do our best to make their first steps on that path fun and exciting.
What could be more exciting than a dinosaur for every letter of the alphabet? or three bipedal animals teaching basic counting? or showing kids how to count from one to ten....in Swahili? Some of the best children's illustrators have supplied artwork for books like these, so that young readers are actually learning to identify numerals and letters while absorbing beautiful and engaging pictures.
Some titles are even more educational than just teaching the basics—a series from Sleeping Bear Press offers stunningly illustrated "state alphabets" which teach kids each letter A-Z through U.S. state-specific words and phrases. For example, T is for Tar-Heel is a North Carolina alphabet; B is for Beaver State uses Oregon words. We don't carry them all yet, but there's an alphabet book for each of the fifty states.
We really don't think kids should be committed to learning simply because it's fun. There are times in anyone's academic career (whether as a kindergartner or graduate student) when learning is difficult and a drudgery. But we're more likely to end up with children who enjoy picking up a book or completing a math lesson if we make it a positive experience from the outset—the books in this category can help toward that end.
Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews
here.
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