The Girl's Own BookMain MenuEllery Yale WoodABCsPrimersEducational TextsVirtue and ViceMethods of IllustrationFairy TalesFolk TalesDoll BooksSchool StoriesPeriodicals and Magazines for ChildrenDomestic SkillsNonsense BooksBooks to EntertainToy and Movable BooksDerivative and Transformative WorksBeyond the Nineteenth-Century Girl ReaderThanks and AcknowledgementsMarianne Hansene5c1491b9c20d37a95fc0356366eeb2ddecf682bFor questions or assistance with accessing content on this site, please write to Marianne Hansen.
Learning to Read
12020-05-05T17:57:39+00:00Marianne Hansene5c1491b9c20d37a95fc0356366eeb2ddecf682b1810plain13572020-06-08T18:02:45+00:00Marianne Hansene5c1491b9c20d37a95fc0356366eeb2ddecf682bBC books, at their simplest, match each letter with a single image. A is an apple; B is a bird. Most books go well beyond that — each letter spawns three words, or a dozen. There may be an image for each word, or a scene that incorporates them all. Verses are invented, perhaps as mnemonics for the toddler, perhaps to amuse the mother or sibling one imagines pointing to the letters, asking what the illustration shows, and hearing the child practice their lessons.