Alphabetic letters are ubiquitous, multivalent, and largely ignored. Playful Letters reveals their important cultural contributions through Alphabetics—a new interpretive model for understanding artistic production that attends to the signifying interplay of the graphemic, phonemic, lexical, and material capacities of letters. A key period for examining this interplay is the century and a half after the invention of printing, with its unique media ecology of print, manuscript, sound, and image. Drawing on Shakespeare, anthropomorphic typography, figured letters, and Cyrillic pedagogy and politics, this book explores the ways in which alphabetic thinking and writing inform literature and the visual arts, and it develops reading strategies for the “letterature” that underwrites such cultural production. Playful Letters begins with early modern engagements with the alphabet and the human body—an intersection where letterature emerges with startling force. The linking of letters and typography with bodies produced a new kind of literacy. In turn, educational habits that shaped letter learning and writing permeated the interrelated practices of typography, orthography, and poetry. These mutually informing processes render visible the persistent crumbling of words into letters and their reconstitution into narrative, poetry, and image. In addition to providing a rich history of literary and artistic alphabetic interrogation in early modern Western Europe and Russia, Playful Letters contributes to the continuous story of how people use new technologies and media to reflect on older forms, including the alphabet itself.

Teach the Alphabet through play! Kids learn the best through hands-on activities! Let's have some fun learning the alphabet through movement, art and sensory exploration! This hardcover version includes over 130 letter activities, your child will learn to identify all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. This is part of the Sammy the Golden Dog Activity Series. Details: Over 130 Alphabet Activities: Introduce letter recognition and phonological awareness (letter sounds) through play! Each letter is taught through: Art Sensory Exploration Movement Your child will learn: letter identification and literacy concepts. There are five activities related to each letter. The first letter activity introduces the shape of the letter. The second and third activities use art materials to reinforce the shape of the letter. The fourth and fifth activities incorporate literacy and gross motor skills to introduce phonological concepts. Includes: 5 Activities for each letter (A through Z) Alphabet Review Games

Play fetch with Sammy, the golden retriever, as he teaches your child the alphabet! It's time for an alphabet adventure as Sammy, the golden retriever, searches for the alphabet around his favorite place to play fetch, his farm! Determined to find every letter, Sammy encounters his friends doing some silly things, including a cow having a birthday party and some muddy pigs dancing a jig! Your child will have a blast helping Sammy find them all! Sammy supports a love of learning by teaching children speech and cognitive skills in a fun way. The upbeat, rhyming phrases will capture your child's attention, enticing them to read the book over and over again with excitement! "There goes "T" by the squirrel in the tree! It's traveling toward the tortoise whose looking at me!" This sweet, imaginative picture book is targeted for children ages 2-8. This fun-to-read story is the second book of the "Sammy Series" featuring Sammy, the golden retriever, that kids are sure to cherish and learn from. Bonus: Simple games included in the back of the book teach children how letters make words!

Demonstrates the diverse activities playful children can do, with words that begin from A to Z.

Teach the Alphabet through play! Kids learn the best through hands-on activities! Let's have some fun learning the alphabet through movement, art and sensory exploration! With over 130 letter activities, your child will learn to identify all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. This is part of the Sammy the Golden Dog Activity Series. Details: Over 130 Alphabet Activities: Introduce letter recognition and phonological awareness (letter sounds) through play! Each letter is taught through: Art Sensory Exploration Movement Your child will learn: letter identification and literacy concepts. There are five activities related to each letter. The first letter activity introduces the shape of the letter. The second and third activities use art materials to reinforce the shape of the letter. The fourth and fifth activities incorporate literacy and gross motor skills to introduce phonological concepts. Includes: 5 Activities for each letter (A through Z) Alphabet Review Games

A is for what? A is for salad, and B is for Viking. Welcome to the wacky world of Mike Lester, where nothing is as it seems. Is A really for salad, or is it for the alligator eating a bowl of mixed greens? And maybe B is for the beaver wearing a Viking helmet. You'll have to look twice to figure out what each letter really stands for in this irreverent alphabet book. Learning your ABCs has never been so much F-U-N. Mike Lester “turns the alphabet picture book on its hoary head . . . the book is hilarious, right down to its view of X and Y: 'not important. Never use them'." US News and World Report

Create uniquely artful words with secrets from Joanne Sharpe! Joanne Sharpe--author of the popular book The Art of Whimsical Lettering--has gathered together 55 of her favorite hand-drawn alphabets for this light-hearted collection. Follow simple illustrated steps to replicate each style...no lengthy instructions or extensive practice required. Any "imperfections" only add to their charm! Try your hand at letterforms inspired by feathers, flowers, postage stamps, vintage type, doodles, taxi cabs, chalkboards and more. Equally exciting are the variety of media used, from colored pencils and markers to paints and inks. Looking to add an artful touch to the world around you? These letters are perfect for personalizing anything from family calendars and daily planners to wall art, art journals, cards and one-of-a-kind gifts. You can even use the techniques and inspiration in this book to invent completely original alphabets of your own. With this A to Z guide, there's no limit to the statements you can make! • Awesome alphabets--55 in all, ranging from basic block and stick letters to fanciful illustrated fonts • Beginner-friendly instructions--Each alphabet is broken down into just a few simple steps • Creative variety of tools and media--pens, markers, brushes, inks, paints, colored pencils, fountain pens, cardstock and much more