Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet

From Booklist Robb's picture-book survey offers a fascinating look at the Roman alphabet, from its ancient origins to today. The approach is concise but comprehensive. Opening pages explore how and why written language developed in the first place: "Spoken language doesn't let you keep a record of what was said, and it doesn't let you talk to people who are far away." Robb also covers how early civilizations moved from picture symbols to the concept of letters and the history of specific letters, with text insets addressing related topics, such as the first writing materials. The open layouts feature appealing, stylized graphics that ably reinforce the text, including a map that demonstrates the spread of written language around the Mediterranean. Best suited for kids who have a handle on language concepts such as consonants and vowels, this will find a home in both social studies and language-arts units. The appended resources include books for both children and adults. Pair this with Tiphaine Samoyault's Alphabetical Order (1998). Engberg, Gillian Don Robb began his second career in educational publishing after seven years as a teacher. After graduating from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he studied history and political science, Don taught Spanish, French, and English as a second language at the high school level in Toledo, Ohio, then later at a junior high school in Hackensack, New Jersey.His first job in publishing was as a foreign language consultant for Holt, Rinehart. He went on to serve in a variety of editorial and marketing capacities there, and at Houghton Mifflin Co., where he became a vice president. He left that position to join Charlesbridge (then Mastery Education Corporation) in 1981.Don is an avid reader and a writer. His particular interests are history--especially American history--science non-fiction, and mysteries.