New Picture Book Teaches the ABCs and Virtue

Taryn DeLong reviews Alphabet by Heart: Kindness A to Z by Jeanne and Mark K. Shriver.

I’ve started dipping my toe into homeschooling. My daughter is early preschool-age, so our “school” looks like 30 to 60 minutes (sometimes consecutive, often not) of themed storytime and activities. I studied education in college, though I never taught, and I’m finding myself putting my “teacher hat” back on. And I’m always on the lookout for books that teach in an engaging and beautiful way.

Alphabet by Heart: Kindness A to Z is a forthcoming (June 18, 2024) book from 4U2B Books & Media, an imprint of Loyola Press. It’s written by Jeanne and Mark K. Shriver, a married couple with three children. It’s illustrated by Laura Watson, a children’s illustrator, wife, and mother. My daughter loves books and the alphabet, so I was eager to see what we both thought of this ABC book.

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After reading Alphabet by Heart together, I think we’d both recommend it to parents and young children. Each page is dedicated to a letter and a four-line rhyme highlighting a value, virtue, or behavior. For example, “E” is for empathy.

These concepts are not easy ones to explain, especially in rhyme for young children. I was impressed at how well the Shrivers were able to distill them in these pages. The illustrations are colorful and full of joy, representing a diverse group of people (including children with visible disabilities).

In addition to sparking valuable conversations about virtue, the book will also help with alphabet instruction. In addition to the life lesson each letter highlights, the illustrations portray other words that begin with the letter featured on the page. “B” is for “believe in yourself,” but it’s also for “basketball.”

As our children grow older, I’m excited to have this book to teach the alphabet and character in conjunction. Right now, it’s a fun way to practice rhyming and find objects that start with different letters. (In fact, the Shrivers don’t make the mistake many children’s authors make of writing awkward rhymes; they flow right off the tongue.) Later, it’ll be an (also fun) way to have conversations about the way God expects us to treat other people—and ourselves, too.

Recommended for parents of children learning about virtue, character, the alphabet, and rhyming!

Ask for Alphabet by Heart at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, 4U2B Books & Media.

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