P is for Peanut
"P is for Peanut" turned out to be a big win for us (me and my four-year old son). This is Getty Publications' new alphabet book and it uses twenty-six photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection to not only walk kids through the alphabet, but to teach them some interesting ways to look at, and wonder about, works of art. It includes works from some pretty hefty photographic names-- Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson and others.
Rather than just reading the book to him as a plain old alphabet book, I turned the book and each page into an interactive game. My son had so much fun and asked me to read the book to him again (twice). I approached each page in two to three different ways.
First, I asked him to guess each letter by looking at the picture. Then we sounded out the word and letter together. Second, I covered the letter and said the word slowly, emphasizing the first letter of the word while he looked at the VERY INTERESTING photo images. Then he would have to guess the letter. Third, I covered the letter and had him look at the photo image and tell me what was going on. We would eventually land on the word/letter of the alphabet and phonetically sound it out together. The photo images are very unique in the large world of alphabet books and many of them even made him laugh, especially when my voice was very animated.
I strongly recommend P is for Peanut. My measure of a really good book is one that I will save to read with my grandkids. This one made that list.
Take an action
- this article with friends and family.
- Have a question about Early Years (Birth-5)? Ask it here.
- Publish your work on education.com.
Great Gift Ideas
We found the best products for each grade 
to help build your child’s brain, and they’re chock full of fun! Browse Our Recommendations.
to help build your child’s brain, and they’re chock full of fun! Browse Our Recommendations.
Add your own comment
Have a question?
To share your personal experience or ask advice from our community, please start a discussion