Alphabet

Listen closely. Can you hear the sound a kitty makes. It starts with a soft 'cuh' sound. Cuh, cuh, cat. Now think of a big, bouncy ball. It starts with a 'buh' sound. Buh, buh, ball. Those sounds are like little puffs of air. But what if you could see them. What if they were special shapes you could draw on paper. I am that team of special shapes. I turn sounds into something you can see. Hello. I'm the Alphabet.

A very, very long time ago, people drew pictures to tell stories. They would draw a picture of a sun to mean 'sun'. But then, some very clever people in a warm place called Egypt had a wonderful idea. What if a picture stood for just the first sound of a word. The picture for an ox, which they called 'aleph,' made an 'ah' sound. Slowly, that picture of an ox head turned and tumbled until it became our letter A. Isn't that silly and fun. Then, friendly sailors called Phoenicians traveled in their big boats. They shared these sound-shapes everywhere they went. Soon, people in a sunny place called Greece added even more letters for sounds like 'eh' and 'oh'. They made me bigger and better for everyone to use.

Now, I am everywhere. I live inside your favorite colorful storybooks, waiting for you to read about dragons and sleepy bears. I help you learn to write your very own name. My shapes line up to show everyone who you are. When you sing your ABCs, you are singing my song. Every time you point to a sign or spell a little word, you are using me to share your big, bright ideas. I help you tell your friends and family all about your wonderful stories and feelings. We can share everything with the whole world.