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Jane Belk Moncure's Sound Box Books
My "a" Book
Little a fills his box with things beginning with the letter "a" and is treated to a ride by an astronaut.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1977
54 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Jane Belk Moncure
429 books37 followersJane Belk Moncure (born December 1926) is an American author of early childhood non-fiction, fiction and poetry. She has also written under the names Bruce Wannamaker and Jennie Davis.
Moncure has lived in Virginia and North Carolina. She worked in early childhood education for thirty-five years. She lives in Elon College, North Carolina.
Moncure is a creative and prolific author: there are millions of her books in circulation, and they are widely distributed in schools and libraries. Distribution has been primarily through The ChildsWorld, ChildrensPress and Scholastic. Her creations and works include My First Steps to Reading, My First Steps to Math, My First Steps to Science, Word Bird, The Soundbox Books, and The Magic Castle Series. Her works have been translated into British English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Malay. Belk Library, Elon University holds a collection of all published books by Moncure.
Jane Belk Moncure is a recipient of the C.S. Lewis Award and over the past 20 years, her works were recognized by numerous Awards. Most recently, in 2008, Jane received the Scholastic Teacher's Choice Award for her outstanding contribution to the My First Steps to Learning Program. --from Wikipedia
Moncure has lived in Virginia and North Carolina. She worked in early childhood education for thirty-five years. She lives in Elon College, North Carolina.
Moncure is a creative and prolific author: there are millions of her books in circulation, and they are widely distributed in schools and libraries. Distribution has been primarily through The ChildsWorld, ChildrensPress and Scholastic. Her creations and works include My First Steps to Reading, My First Steps to Math, My First Steps to Science, Word Bird, The Soundbox Books, and The Magic Castle Series. Her works have been translated into British English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Malay. Belk Library, Elon University holds a collection of all published books by Moncure.
Jane Belk Moncure is a recipient of the C.S. Lewis Award and over the past 20 years, her works were recognized by numerous Awards. Most recently, in 2008, Jane received the Scholastic Teacher's Choice Award for her outstanding contribution to the My First Steps to Learning Program. --from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 12, 2020
Read with granddaughter. She is just learning to read so this was a good book for her to sound out words with.
August 7, 2025
An excellent teaching tool and from the library too.
March 16, 2016
SUMMARY: Little a fills his box with things beginning with the letter "a" and is treated to a ride by an astronaut.
REVIEW: This is a perfect little book for introducing or reviewing the letter and sound of short a. My grandson who is 3 1/2 enjoyed finding the letter a in the words as well as recognizing things he knew that began with the short a sound as well as learning some new words that had that sound. As a retired elementary reading teacher, this is a fun way to help children understand the connection between the sounds they are learning and the way they will use them to learn to read.
REVIEW: This is a perfect little book for introducing or reviewing the letter and sound of short a. My grandson who is 3 1/2 enjoyed finding the letter a in the words as well as recognizing things he knew that began with the short a sound as well as learning some new words that had that sound. As a retired elementary reading teacher, this is a fun way to help children understand the connection between the sounds they are learning and the way they will use them to learn to read.
December 6, 2013
This book is one in a series of books that concentrate on one letter of the alphabet and in this one, it is the letter A.
In this one, Little A decides he wants to fill up his box with items that begin with the letter A.
Little ones will like the use of the same letter and will enjoy learning so many new words.
The only thing that I don't like are the pictures. For little ones, it is important for the pictures to be special; especially in a vocabulary book like this one.
In this one, Little A decides he wants to fill up his box with items that begin with the letter A.
Little ones will like the use of the same letter and will enjoy learning so many new words.
The only thing that I don't like are the pictures. For little ones, it is important for the pictures to be special; especially in a vocabulary book like this one.
April 11, 2008
I picked up the entire alphabet set at DI. Sallie (age almost 2) loves these books and can recognize ALL the letters in the alphabet because we read these books. Coco (age 4) has them memorized, so feels like she can read them. Which allows me some respite, I read probably 3 of these alphabet books each day.
July 15, 2009
This is my first - very early - foray into easy reader books. I'm not hugely impressed, after the joy that is Dr. Seuss! Basically it has convinced me that I understand nothing about how kids learn to read, and should learn more to see if there is any benefit in this type of book over more enjoyable reads!
December 4, 2010
This entire book is about a little boy name "little a" and a box. He fills his box with only things that begin with the letter "a". It is good for beginning readers because there are pictures that match up with what Little A is putting into his box.
December 5, 2010
I would use this book in the classroom to introduce children to differnt items that start with the letter "a." For pre-k children, this book can be used to help children learn and spell differnt words that start with the letter "a."
Read
August 7, 2010I learned that things that start with a like; alligator, apple,and ants.
November 2, 2011
I liked this book about a. I could read the words. I liked all the pictures. Jonas
February 2, 2013
Abbi said she liked this one because she could read it all by herself. She didn't understand the title at first, but loved it after she figured it out...AND that little "a" was a person.
August 25, 2019
I have the whole series of these books so look for a review every week using this book. "My "a" Book" by Jane Belk Moncure is apart of the Jane Belk Moncure's Sound Box books and was first written in 1977. So it's been around for a long time. You follow a little boy named Little a and he fills a box with things beginning with the letter "a" and then he gets a ride with someone.
So when I am teaching like I am currently with Mason and Cassie. We take a literature walk. Which I will write about on a different post. Then since this book is really to help kids learn how to read and Mason is four years old. I helped him learn how to read it. On the first day of the week Mason would repeate each word after me as I pointed the letter. Then through out the week I pause on simple words such as the letter A. More and more words I stop reading and let him read it to me as a point. Hopefully, by Friday he is reading most of the page and I am listening to the book and pointing along. When he doesn't fill in the word where I pause I try to direct him to look at the picture for clues. This book has clues everywhere in the illustrations. Okay...more of my steps later.
So I really love these books. I got them handed down to me from someone else that was done reading them to her kids. This book is so sweet and really simple little story. Yes, moms and dads it does have a small story line. It's really cute story and my kids love trying to read the story. I love the illustrations in this book as they are colorful and really draw your eyes to the pages.
This book will stay in my hands till Cassie heads off to school herself.
So when I am teaching like I am currently with Mason and Cassie. We take a literature walk. Which I will write about on a different post. Then since this book is really to help kids learn how to read and Mason is four years old. I helped him learn how to read it. On the first day of the week Mason would repeate each word after me as I pointed the letter. Then through out the week I pause on simple words such as the letter A. More and more words I stop reading and let him read it to me as a point. Hopefully, by Friday he is reading most of the page and I am listening to the book and pointing along. When he doesn't fill in the word where I pause I try to direct him to look at the picture for clues. This book has clues everywhere in the illustrations. Okay...more of my steps later.
So I really love these books. I got them handed down to me from someone else that was done reading them to her kids. This book is so sweet and really simple little story. Yes, moms and dads it does have a small story line. It's really cute story and my kids love trying to read the story. I love the illustrations in this book as they are colorful and really draw your eyes to the pages.
This book will stay in my hands till Cassie heads off to school herself.
December 21, 2017
We purchased this series to help my oldest learn to read in 1999. Each book features a single letter and follows the same format to make it easier for children to focus on the letters.
The main character is "Little (the letter of the book)" and changes with each book. The character has a box which he fills with assorted items that start with the letter. So Little A will put apples and alligators in his box while Little B, in another book, will but balls and bikes in his. The focus of the book is first letter recognition. There is a companion set that has numbers and involves fun interactions such as Little 3 can jump 3 times, can you?
The only bad thing about these books is that they are now out of print and often sold as individual books rather than a set. As a set, they are a great resource for teaching early reading skills.
The main character is "Little (the letter of the book)" and changes with each book. The character has a box which he fills with assorted items that start with the letter. So Little A will put apples and alligators in his box while Little B, in another book, will but balls and bikes in his. The focus of the book is first letter recognition. There is a companion set that has numbers and involves fun interactions such as Little 3 can jump 3 times, can you?
The only bad thing about these books is that they are now out of print and often sold as individual books rather than a set. As a set, they are a great resource for teaching early reading skills.
February 2, 2019
This is a good book for beginning readers. It has many words that start with a that are easy for beginning readers. This books pictures are a little out dated but, it has pictures above the words to help students figure out what the word is. At the end of the book it has something very helpful for students. It has a list of words that start with a that they used throughout this whole book and then it has a list of short and long a words. All of these words also have pictures with them to help students.
February 5, 2019
This was a very delightful book to read. Following "Little A", the main character was a fun journey. I think children will find this book interesting, yet learn new words they might not have known, such as "astronaut" or "alligator". It will also be a refresher for words that they might be able to identify, such as "ax". If you are looking for a good picture book for the letter "a", this is a good pick.
July 17, 2019
I like that my 6 year old can read it on her own and practice long and short vowels.
October 21, 2019
A storytbook featuring the short vowel a where the storytline invloves many a words. Toddler and up
February 21, 2021
We always have learning about words that start with a.
June 17, 2023
6/14/2023 - Very fun book for learning "a" sounds. I will look for more in this series.
April 16, 2015
Summary:
The characters name is "A" and he has a box and finds things that begin with he letter "a" to put into his box. This book has clear and easy words for children. The style of it shows a lot of white space, not too stimulating. There is repetition in this books such as " apples, apples, apples,". Everything falls out of the box and an astronaut comes to help "A" and gives him a ride. I like the end of the book because it has a page of objects that begin with the letter A. This is a great instructional book if you're trying to have the children understand letters of the alphabet individually. This is also a hard cover book and the pages are easy to turn. Some of the things he puts into the box are unrealistic which can make you think fantasy but overall it has one purpose which is to teach the letter "a" and that I being said it is a great non fiction short book.
The characters name is "A" and he has a box and finds things that begin with he letter "a" to put into his box. This book has clear and easy words for children. The style of it shows a lot of white space, not too stimulating. There is repetition in this books such as " apples, apples, apples,". Everything falls out of the box and an astronaut comes to help "A" and gives him a ride. I like the end of the book because it has a page of objects that begin with the letter A. This is a great instructional book if you're trying to have the children understand letters of the alphabet individually. This is also a hard cover book and the pages are easy to turn. Some of the things he puts into the box are unrealistic which can make you think fantasy but overall it has one purpose which is to teach the letter "a" and that I being said it is a great non fiction short book.
October 15, 2015
I read this book to my preschooler and she loved it! It is phenomenal with letter recognition. The whole time we were reading it she kept discovering more and more a's. This is a really good book for the beginning stages of reading and writing. Best thing of all, it is part of a series for all the rest of the letters too!
June 4, 2009
This series is what it is...helpful for beginning readers to associate letters with sounds. Pre-K age appropriate or earlier for advanced readers. Illustrations help children figure out words with lots of repetition.
July 11, 2013
Read this book as a child. Loved it. Helps preschool kids learn the sounds of things that start with the letter A! The pictures are great each page has a new item that starts with that letter. Great for sounding out words. I could use this book to show pre-k kids all about the letter A.
September 29, 2013
My 3 yr olds are learning how to read and write their alphabet and this book ties in perfectly with their lessons. They love the pictures and following along, trying to guess the next words that will begin with the letter "a". A little old school, but still loved by my preschoolers.
July 12, 2010
great to help children learn their "a" sound
January 24, 2012
Nice and easy book for a beginning reader.
February 25, 2013
This was a fun book to read with my little one
May 14, 2013
Absolutely fantastic for helping younger children to learn to read!
October 9, 2013
read to me 3 year old
September 16, 2016
I thought this book was a good book for beginner readers. it gave the kids a variety of different words with the a sound. I would recommend this book to others.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews