Edward Lear’s Nonsense Alphabet
B was a book
With a binding of blue,
And pictures and stories
For me and for you.
Nice little book!
Blue appears in story titles, like William Boyd’s ‘The Blue
Afternoon,’ G.K. Chesterton’s book introducing Father Brown, ’The Blue Cross,’ and
in poems like Robert Frost’s ‘Blueberries,’
and ‘The Bluebell’ by Emily Brontë. In children’s literature there is Dr Seuss’s
‘One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish,’ and the nursery rhymes, ‘Lavender’s
blue,’ and ‘Little Boy Blue.’
For a while, there was a popular UK reading scheme in the
1960s from Sheila K. McCullagh based on ‘The Village with Three Corners.’ The
residents were Roger Red-hat, Billy Blue-hat, and Johnny Yellow-hat, and their
associated friends and relatives. I always wondered why Johnny Yellow-hat didn’t
have a first name beginning with Y. He could have been Yorick (Alas, poor Yorick!
I knew him, Horatio)
I found it quite difficult to engage with the Three Corner Villagers,
but they were preferable to Dick and Dora, or Peter and Jane, or Janet and John.
It seems that a new reading scheme is published every few years, with much the
same format, but different names. They are a mixture of ‘Look and Say’ and
phonetic texts. At least the stories are more relatable now.
Can you remember the books that helped you learn to read? I can't.
My reading books way to far in the past to remember, I am enjoying the books Molly and George use to learn to read, George's tutor has changed words in his books to make them relevant to him.
ReplyDeleteWell done, George's tutor - very kind.
DeleteMy first school reading book was about a red tractor I think, my children learned to read with the River red-hat books
ReplyDeleteThe later reading books are brighter and more interesting, I think.
DeleteI have a vague memory of a colour coded system where we progressed from the easy books up through the different colours. Ladybird books??
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, the coloured levels - still in operation today!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading stories and fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, as well as books by Croatian authors such as Mato Lovrak, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, and others who wrote for children.
ReplyDeleteThose first story books leave an indelible impression.
DeleteI learned to read with the Dick and Jane series
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to see how children could be inspired by such boring 'stories' but somehow we all learnt.
DeleteLadybird books, I think, along with road signs, newspapers and food packaging.
ReplyDeleteMy Mum taught me to read in the summer break between infants and junior school. My first teacher "couldn't be bothered" with those who didn't enter school until 5 1/4 (she actually told my Mum that to her face!) and the teacher of my 2nd class went off on maternity leave as soon as the school year began, so we had a series of teachers, none of whom stayed very long or could be bothered with those children who were already getting left behind.
At the first parents' evening in the juniors my teacher asked my Mum why I was the best reader in the class, but was on a ridiculously low level of the reading programme. I eventually ended up with an English degree and, curiously, both my English teachers at secondary school said they had both been late readers too.
Teachers who 'can't be bothered' are in the wrong job! Well done to your mum and you.
DeleteThe only book I remember reading as a kid was Where The Wild Things Are.
ReplyDeleteThat's still a popular book with young children.
DeleteI know we had Dick and Jane and one about a dog named Red (?). I started 1st grade at 5 years old and I knew my alphabet and numbers thanks to the hard work of my mother. She was an avid reader and I quickly learned to be also.
ReplyDeleteMy parents encouraged me to read, too.
DeleteI started reading really young and still do quite a bit, but I don't remember the books that helped me read, but I do recall the early books I read for pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI remember books I chose to read early on, maybe because I would reread them immediately I had finished them
DeleteBooks with blue in the title, that has me thinking. I can remember Island of the Blue Dolphins, a children's book, and an Agatha Christie story about a blue train. And of course, Dr. Seuss' Red Fish Blue Fish.
ReplyDeleteThe reading series I remember from first grade was Dick and Jane. And Spit, their dog. "Oh, oh. See Spot. See Spot run." I took the book home and read the whole thing in one night. It was so boring.
But I also recall a story from a later book, about a girl who had a red sweater. She would walk home every day to have lunch with her mother. I was enthralled with the story and the pictures. I can't remember anything actually happening in the story, oddly!
It was all 'Look and Say' then and tough luck for those who needed a different approach.
DeleteI certainly remember Peter and Jane and Janet and John. My boys were sent home from school with the Roger red hat books, slightly strange weren’t they……
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found Roger Red-hat and his friends a little odd.
DeleteIn the United States in the late 1950's when I was learning to read, the popular reader was Dick and Jane. That's what my school used. I just looked up Dick and Dora and Peter and Jane as I hadn't heard of either and seems both were more British, Australian, etc. but apparently they were similar.
ReplyDeleteI taught the granddaughter of one of the illustrators of the Peter and Jane books.
DeleteIt was Janet and John for me and I seem to recall the red-hat books.
ReplyDeleteThankfully we all learned to read and enjoy books ... but I know some struggle.
All the best Jan
Hopefully, with a range of approaches now, most children are enabled to read.
DeleteYes, I can. Babar, for one. A Child's Book of Poems. And, unusual I think, The King James Bible.
ReplyDeleteThe King James Bible is full of wonderful language.
DeleteHere...and at my time (which was many decades ago), we had Dick & Jane and their dog, Spot, as well. I am certain it wasn't them that sparked my interest in reading as they were truly a bore but something did and my life would be tragic without the gift of the written word.
ReplyDeleteHow poor life would be without books.
DeleteBooks about animals, especially dogs and koalas. As well as the text, each book had colourful images.
ReplyDeleteThe illustrations are the hook to lure children in.
DeleteIt is lovely how childhood reading books leave their mark on a generation, even when the stories themselves have long faded from memory.
ReplyDeleteThe breakthrough comes when children realise that reading is not a 'subject' but an open door to knowledge and pleasure.
DeleteI seriously can't remember that far back.
ReplyDeleteNo problem! 😉
DeleteI remember well the book that I learned from, a Dick and Dora "First Primer", with a blue cover. My older sister struggled to learn to read and Mum would spend hours each day after school helping her while I sat nearby and listened, then one day after she gave up and threw the book onto the floor I picked it up and looked at the pages and saw the words clearly. Declaring the book easy, I read the pages out loud and wondered why she couldn't see the words like I could. I was about 3 and a half. To explain more, we had come from Germany only a few years earlier, sister was four then and struggled to learn English also, while I had learned it from before my first birthday.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been hard for your sister. I taught a 5-year-old German boy who spoke - or heard - German and Swedish at home, had an Italian nanny and was then thrust into an entirely English-speaking school. The poor child was so confused.
DeleteBecause English is weird, "ough" words for example can be pronounced three different ways.
DeleteYes, I remember Dick and Jane who were city children. It didn't make much sense to farm kids.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how alien they must have seemed, quite apart from 'speaking' in short, monosyllabic sentences!
DeleteDr. Seuss. My first read-all-the-way-through book was Green Eggs and Ham. And it was the first one my kids read, too. My parents sent me to Kindergarten reading fluently and were berated for it.
ReplyDeleteMy son's 1st grade teacher berated ME. Ha. He was reading from the National Geographic. He didn't stumble over any words. But ::doleful tone:: He 'didn't understand phonics'.
Um, why should we worry about phonics, which are usually used to teach reading or sound out unfamiliar words?
She didn't have an answer for that. She merely repeated that I had 'allowed' him to read wrong.
What a misguided teacher. There is never just one way to read.
DeleteMy sister is one year older than I, and when she started school, I was jealous of her - even of her having homework to do! There is a very telling photo of the two of us at the dining table, she with her work sheets and pencils spread out, scribbling away, while I look on with a glum expression.
ReplyDeleteEvery day after school, I couldn't wait for her to finish lunch and do her homework so that we could finally play school - she was the teacher and I the pupil, and she taught me more or less what they had done at school that morning. That's how I learned to read and write.
How lovely. Your sister gave you a head-start to school.
DeleteIt must have been Janet and John for me. But I was an obsessive reader from an early age, Tom my eldest grandchild the same. He just learnt to read from the environment around him. One thing struck me the other day was the 'scariness' of the books we had. Grimms Fairytales and Hans Christian Andersen come to mind.
ReplyDeleteThe scariness didn't and doesn't do any harm, so long as it's not exaggerated.
DeleteI know I could read before I started school (which we did ar age 7 here back then). My mum was a teacher before I was born so she taught me but I don't associate it with any special book. She read aloud to me a lot as well, though. And we frequently visited the library.
ReplyDeleteOur children start formal school too young in my opinion. Some are ready but some are still quite immature and needing their afternoon naps.
DeleteI think they start at age 6 now, but the first year is called "year 0" and is something of a "bridge" year between preschool and "real" school. (I don't know any young children now though so not really keeping up with the changes...)
DeleteI remember learning to read with a kindergarten teacher who was the vicar's wife who ran a small school in the church hall attached to the church. I had a slate and chalk. I don't remember any book at that point. Later I moved to a larger school but I still do not remember any specific book but l remember animals and farms and people featuring in our reading.
ReplyDeleteI guess funds were lacking and slates and chalk were a cheaper alternative to pencil and paper. Animals and farms sound like the Ladybird books.
DeleteI would have remembered if it was Ladybird books. It was the convent with nuns so we were fortunate it wasn't the Bible!
DeleteI remember having a favorite book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes that I read constantly. Other than that I don't recall what we had in school
ReplyDeleteNursery rhymes are a wonderful introduction to language and music.
DeleteEnid Blyton springs to mind, but in truth, I really don’t remember.
ReplyDeleteEnid Blyton's books were very popular. I loved the Famous Five.
DeleteEnid Blyton, and whoever wrote Famous Five and Secret Seven...ah, it was she. Who wrote Our Brother Nick and the Tattooed Gardener?
ReplyDeleteIO'd never heard of this but found the following:
ReplyDeleteOur Brother Nick and the Tattooed Gardener is a children's mystery and adventure book written by Felicity Hayle and published by Sampson Low in 1958.
*I'd*
ReplyDeleteI think we used a book series with the characters Jimmy, Sue and Pepper (the dog). I'm vague on the kids' names but the dog was definitely Pepper!
ReplyDeleteI always know and remember dogs' names before I know the names of their owners (apart from family, of course.)
ReplyDeleteStarted with Dick and Jane.
ReplyDelete. . . and never looked back! 😉
ReplyDeleteI was reading long before I started school -- youngest of a large family -- and when the kindergarten teacher gave out books I read mine and handed it back saying thank you! She had me read progressively higher primers that day then said bring your own books to read quietly during reading lessons! Smart lady, one less to teach.
ReplyDeleteA teacher who took note. Not all do!
DeleteLear's nonsense alphabets never get old — "B was a book with a binding of blue" is a lovely one. Fun post, with a quirky uploadarticle.com hot twist.
ReplyDeleteI never tire of Edward Lear.
DeleteI clearly remember the books that helped me learn to read, and I might still have a couple of them. They were (are) all Flemish ones, obviously, so I'm not familiar with those you are mentioning. Although Edward Lear and Dr. Seuss are definitely on my radar. xxx
ReplyDeleteI'd be quite surprised if Peter and Jane and the rest of them appeared in Flemish!
DeleteI remember the Peter and Jane and the Janet and John reading books being around but not sure how much they helped me learning to read. I also remember a series called Colin and Betty. That always made me smile as that was also the name of my parents. I was also part of that school experiment called ITA, fortunately it didn't have any bad effects on me although my spelling is not wonderful. I also enjoyed a lot of ladybird books and many many books by Enid Blyton.
ReplyDeleteITA didn't last long. I had to write an essay using ITA and was never convinced of its usefulness.
ReplyDeleteThis post is actually VERY relevant to one I posted recently as I was answering interview questions for a poetry magazine and I was asked about what books I loved and read as a child. I started to wax lyrical about the wonderful Tim and the Hidden People series which I read as a child. I decidee to Google it to find out who the author was and discovered it was none other than Sheila K McCullagh, who you cite as the author of the 3 corners author. I also read those but didn't love them like I loved the Tim series. Happily, I discovered the entire series digitalised and had a happy time reading a few of them some 40 years later! I linked to them. Do you remember that series too?
ReplyDelete