Concept Books

Ehlert, E. (1989).  Eating the Alphabet.  San Diego: Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN: 0-15-224435-2

      Get to know the alphabet and all your fruits and vegetables at the same time.  This beautifully put together book guides readers from A to Z by exploring the many fruits and vegetables from all over the world that begin with each particular letter.
      Each page has an upper-case and lower-case letter that is large and easy to spot.  Each name of the fruit or vegetable is also written in both upper and lower-case, making it a great reference for young children by just getting to know their letters.  The reader can also identify the fruit or vegetable first and then see the written word beside it.  At the end of the book there is also a glossary explaining each fruit and vegetable, making it a great reference for facts and information.
      The illustrations are vibrant, juicy, and life-like while still maintaining the artist's style.  Using watercolour paints with the whole spectrum of colours, each fruit and vegetable is cut and laid out in a collage type fashion.  The quality of the pictures makes it very exciting to turn the page and see what fruits and vegetables you will find next.

Provocations:

• On a special board or wall, each day, you can introduce a few letters accompanied by a photo or drawing of a few frutis and vegetables whose name begins with that letter.
• Ask the children how many frutis and vegetables they can name, write them down on a board as they name them.  Ask questions such as: "Do you know what letter the word 'pear' begins with?"
• Ask the children what their favorite fruit and vegetable is and why?
• Bring in some real fruits and vegetables and ask the children what the names of them are, and what colours they see.

Presenting the book:

• Use a felt board.  Create out of felt several frutis and vegetables for each letter, along with an upper and lower case letter for the entire alphabet.  Go through the alphabet using the fruits and veggies on the felt board instead of the book.
• Make an alphabet chart or banner, where the children can see the entire alphabet at once, and include the fruits and vegetables (these could be photocopied and cut out from the book) that start with each letter.  Using a pointer wand, get the children to take turns pointing to the letters and the fruits and vegetables and have the rest of the group name them.
• As you read the book, stop and pause on a few of the pages.  Explore one of the fruits/veg - ask how you can eat it, what it tastes like and what food/meals you can make with it?

Extensions:

• Each fruit and vegetable has a description in the glossary of where it came from.  Hang up a world map and create stickers for each of the fruits and vegetables.  Place the stickers around the globe in the places where they came from.  Ask the children if they have lived anywhere else in the world or where their family is from and post that on the map too.
• Make fruit/veg collages.  Using colourful paper, have the children cut out shapes and glue them together to make fruits and vegetables.
• Make a water colour painting inspired by the beautiful watercolours used in the book.
• Go on a picnic!  As a group, make a fruit salad and veggie salad.  If it is nice out have a picnic outside and feast on the juicy salads - sing the alpahbet song while you head off on your picnic.