Lois Letchford: Dyslexia, Early Literacy and books

2 Jul 2020 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:56

In this brief YouTube monologue, Lois Letchford, accompanied by her cat Mary‑Bella Bennett, introduces Graeme Base's 1986 picture book Animalia. She highlights the book's unique alphabetic structure, rich alliterative language, and vivid illustrations—citing examples such as blue butterflies, crimson cats, and lazy lions. Lois emphasizes how Animalia engages children, especially those who struggle with reading, by encouraging them to look closely at pictures, connect oral and written language, and listen for sounds. She recommends using such books to support early literacy development and concludes with a call to like, subscribe, and enjoy reading with children.

Chapters

Good morning, I'm Lois Letchford and I'm here with my cat Mary-Bella Bennett and I'm talking about the book Animalia. And Mary-Bella's going to go, she says goodbye very quickly. Animalia is written by Graeme Base, published in 1986, so it is an old book, but it is an incredible story, an incredible book, not a story, but of an alphabet. Because the language he uses is just fantastic and in the beginning He says, within the pages of this book, you may discover if you look beyond the spell of written words, a hidden land of beasts and birds. For many things are of kind, and those with the keenest eyes will find 1,000 things, or maybe more. It's up to you to keep the score. A final word before you go. There's one more thing you ought to know. In Animalia, you see, It's possible you might find me. So this is a book that shares pictures and incredible language about particular alphabet letters. So we've got beautiful blue butterflies basking by a babbling brook, continuous, and the crimson cats. But my favourite happens to be L. Lazy lions lounging in the local library. So much fun. Thank you. Enjoy, enjoy the books. Enjoy books with all children and particularly with those who struggle the most. Have them engaged in books like this where they are looking, they are thinking, and you're connecting the oral language and the written language. You're looking for meaning As well as listening for sounds. Thank you. Lois Letchford. Hit like, hit subscribe, and enjoy.