The alphabet books and their potentialities in the promotion of a “lecture-literary” competence

Abstract

Integrating the category of picturebooks, the alphabet books or “ABC books” represent one of the oldest categories of children’s book. They present the letters of the alphabet, making them correspond to words and/or images. In some cases, they are composed of uppercase letters and the corresponding lowercase letters, keywords that begin with specific letters, or illustrations of keywords. They may also have phrases or paragraphs of literary nature or are non-literary. Currently, these books show a plurality of graphical and verbo-iconic forms. Well-known authors such as Munari (1907-1998), with ABC (1960), and Sendak (1928-2012), with Alligators All Around (1962), devoted themselves to alphabet books. In Portuguese children’s literature, in addition to titles signed by renowned authors, such as Ducla Soares (1939) or Letria (Cascais, 1951), with ABC (1998) and Alfabeto dos Bichos (2005), respectively, there are some objects with new expressive formulas. Take, for instance, ABZZZZ..., by Isabel Minhós Martins and Yara Kono (2014), and Hoje Sinto-me..., by Madalena Moniz (2014). We intend to reflect on the potential of these books, objects traditionally connoted with didactics, as means of facilitating the learning of letters, but which, in the present, also allow a reading that involves other concepts in the field of ideothematic and literary or artistic construction.