How about a visit to the zoo for z? My kids loved going to the free zoo in Madison when they were little. And some kind of ethnic Fiesta for F, perhaps a cinco de mayo celebration?

Hi ALisande. I'm at work, so I'll start and let you carry on with the rest of the letters. I did a google search and these are the sort of searches I used:

animals that begin with F
fruits that begin with F

Some of the simple, familiar ones might be good (flower, fox, pear, etc), but some of the more unusual ones would help teach vocabulary and about new things (qiwi, quomquat).

F Fruit, Fish, Flower, Fox
L Lamb, lizard, leopard,lion
N Norwegian Elkhound, Nectarine
P Pear, peach, pineapple, pumpkin penquin pelican porcupine puppy
Q Quail, queen bee, qiwi, quomquat

You can do R through X the same way because I'm at work and don't want to use up too much time.

and, of course

Z Zebra

F. Flip flop, field of flowers

L. Lollipop, lantern,

N.

P. Photo frame,

Q. Quilt.. would be great if you could use a family heirloom and include a few sentence about it (would also be nice for all the pictures, such as "uncle Frank using a fork to eat fritters)

R. Racecar,

U. Uncle, umbrella,

V. Vacuum, vase of violets

W. Watering can, wall of (something),

X

Z

I love a beautiful "flag' for F.

The thing is, I live out in the country.....no zoo, no Norwegian Elkhounds, no pelicans. Most of my neighbors never even heard of Cinco de Mayo. LOL

You'd think I'd be able to find a fox, but no luck so far. I can, however, find a flag! And a watering can, and definitely a vacuum cleaner.

It's all helpful, thanks!

Rooster
Log
Pinecone
Umberella

What a great idea! You are so creative. Make sure you use the short sounds for the vowels:

a apple
e elephant
i igloo
o octopus
u umbrella

z would be zebra or zipper

Now go out and get that igloo picture, Susan! Or, maybe an insect would be easier!

F - Fun
L - Love
N - Nana (if he is going to call you that)
P - Pretty (your pictures are pretty)

Wish I could see what pictures you plan to use. This will be a book he will keep forever, right? Are you planning to have family pictures in it? If so, maybe some of the names of the relatives in the pictures would work. Like U - Uncle ???

That's the neatest idea. Our granddaughter made us a book for Christmas last year. She was married last April and included pictures of them graduating college, trips they've taken, wedding pictures. It's very special and I treasure it!

Omigosh, I have logs galore! That's a great idea.

I have umbrellas too! (Why didn't I think of that?) And zippers!

It just occurred to me that I could photograph all the cats--his house and mine. That takes care of O, E, B, P, and A. He loves the kitties, so that would be fun to do, especially if I can get the two P's (Pogo and Peachy) together for a portrait.

Incidentally, for anyone who might be interested in making a board book, ArtsCow.com offers photo books on board stock. This is what I'm told, anyway. I haven't actually checked the site yet.

As for people pictures, he has a very large family on his mother's side, plus some on his dad's, and I don't want people to feel left out if I use one uncle but not another, for instance. So I'm thinking I'll just use a picture of the baby for J (Joey). I was going to use it for B (baby), but it won't be long before he won't want to think of himself as a baby (although the rest of us will).

Thanks, everyone!

F......flower, fish, flock, flounder, fortune (cookie), fox, furry, far, fauna, fawn, far,

L..... love, large, long, leaf, land, lever, lavender, link, lawn, laugh, leak, leek, laurel,

N..... nine, no, nice, name, navy, naked, nod, number, nurse, nose,

P..... pom pom, puddle, poodle, pink, pooh pooh! lol

Q..... question, queen (bee), quill, quilt, quad, quart, quote,

R...... round, roll, ride, ring,

U...... usher, under, umbrella, UNDIES! lol, up, uproot,

V..... vacant, vacation, vacuum, vagrant (lol), vibrant, valentine, vein, valance, vase, vasectomy (just to see if you are reading my ideas! lol), vat, vegetable, video, vine, veil, vertical, violet, VALIUM!

W..... well, wine, wagon, waitress, wash, white, wing, write, wound, wire,

X.....xylophone (take a pic of you computer screen showing a xylophone? lol), XANAX! hahaha, xerox? ,,xerophyllum

Z........zest ? zig zag, zinnia, zinc, any of your musical friends have a zither?

oh, I forgot Narcissus....

and I forgot to say that this is a great idea!

I like Uncle, too!

Artscow ships from China I think, but don't let that scare you off. The shipping is pretty quick (within about 10 days I believe). I've never ordered from them because you have to put their software on your computer, but I have a friend who uses them all the time.

Don't forget to use a coupon code, they offer many!

Your book idea sounds cute! Have fun with it! If you haven't already started taking the pictures, I was thinking you could hide the same small stuffed animal or toy in every photo and kind of make it a 'I spy' book too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Coupon codes for Artscow

That's a cool idea, Lydia--I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for the coupon codes!

Hmmm.......Kat has given me NAKED, POOH POOH, and UNDIES. What kind of alphabet book did you have in mind, Kat? LOL

Floating (maybe a rubber duck floating in the bathtub?)

Life Savers

Nickels

Popsicles

Quack (coming out of a duck's mouth)

Raspberries

Umbrellas

Vases

Wagon

Xylophone (sorry, all I can think of!)

Zinnias

If I remember, you have the Ice hut, or Outbuilding, don't you, Susan?

L lemon, ladder, ladybug,laughing, leaves
N nuts, nickels
P pantry, porridge,
Q quarters, quince bush tree? and flower, quiet (baby sleeping)
R rutabagas, Read (me a book),roses,radio tower
U ukulele, uphill, United States (a map)
V violin, vest, vacuum ,valentine, vegetables, vitamins
W winter, water pail, woods, woodpecker, wheel barrow
X XMAS (lame!!)
Z zigzag (lightening bolt?) zero
Z

I didn't make notes of the other answers, sorry if some are repeats... OK, real quick.....

F-Um, let me think, let me think...... OH! How about flamingo? LOL Ferret, feather, fritos

L- link, lemon, leopard, lion, lozenge,

N- north, nike, noon, nap,

P- platypus

Q- quilt, quail, quarter,

R- radish, rabbit, robot,

U - ukelele

V - volcano

W - weather, walnut, will, water, wash,

X - x-ray glasses, xylophone,

Z - zither,

Also, you can google- "things that start with V" , click on images, and get lots of ideas.

F - family - maybe one with as many relatives as possible.

A friend of mine made a memory game for her toddler - she took pictures of her family members - made 2 copies and put them on board stock. Then she played a game where he had to find the one that matched the one she showed. Later on when he was a little older she would turn them all upside down and he would turn over 2 at a time to try to match them.

I taught kindergarten for years and we would make baggie books - cute idea and easy to do. If you are interested, let me know and I will tell you how to do it.

F - fun

L - love

N - nuts (as in we are crazy about you)

P - phf sound. (can't think of how to spell it, but goes good with a toungue sticking out or food over the face.)

X - eXhausted, eXcited

Z - Zzzzzzzzzz nap

What a wonderful idea!

Foot (or feet)
Lemon
Nose (a collage of people and animal noses?)
Pickles
Quarters
Radishes
Upside down
Vulture
Wrist watch
X ray
Zipper

FROG!!!

this is for a one year old? think very basic sounds they can relate to...

for instance n = nose f = face, since at this age, we usually start with body parts as well...

F= Fire, campfire, fireplace, forest fire, fireman/woman, firetruck, or how about floppy (a floppy eared bunny here), footpath, Food(a stack of groceries), flippers (a pic of a seal or dolfin), perhaps FAT ( a pic of an elephant,hippo, large pig or if you like I could send you a pic of my ex), a Fort (could be an old military coastal defense fort, of some kids tossing snowballs from their snow fort), how about Fingers (adults, children, infants or even monkeys & gorillas),

L= my first thought here is I know you like photographing closeups of unusual things, how about "Lumps & Bumps"?, Lizards, Locks, Lips, Lipsticks, Lamps (oil, candle, electric etc) Lunch, lunch box, Lollipop, Licks (a child licking a lollipop, a puppy licking a child, etc)

P= puppies, pie, petunia, peanut, peanut butter, pampers, Padding (show kids knee pads for sports), Popcorn, Pencils, Pens (and all those other archaic writing instruments that we no longer use), Pots as in chamber pot, or flower pots & cook pots.

Q= a quarter ($.25), Quivver (filled with arrows), quarter horse, Q-tips, or how about a pic of my favorite quarter horse, the one in front of K-mart that you put a quarter in to ride....LOL

R= Run, Rabits, Rats, Race car, roots (show roots of plants, maybe a carrot with the tops still attached), a Ring, Rain,

Now, I don't know anybody that has a zither, but I know a couple ppl that have ZIT's, would that work?

F a group photo for Family

Q his Quilt

Do you have anyone in the family with a name for one of the letters? Or a pet?

Z zipper

Wow,, Jan just reminded me,,,I have a very unusual photo for Z...here is a photo of a "Zedonk" that I took last year.. A Zedonk is a hybrid that is derived by crossing a Zebra with a Doneky.

I agree with Susan. Basics are best and little ones love repetition. They aren't looking for variety like older ones do. Using familiar objects with the fewest syllables would be best.

It funny this came up today. DD just asked me last night to dig out any of her childhood books I have. I gave her some picture books at her baby shower last week.

One of the books I bought had both shapes and colors. For example a RED balloon which is a CIRCLE or a YELLOW kite which is a DIAMOND.

We read to our children from the time they were out of the womb. Literally. Both of our kids are huge readers. She intends to follow tradition. Makes grandma so happy. LOL

I got these out of the dictionary. I bet you could find several words there yourself.

"Z"

Zwie-back - Sweetened bread enriched w/eggs, baked, sliced,toasted until dry and cisp.

Zulu - Communication code word for the letter Z.

Zoysia - A creeping, invasive, perennial grass.

Zoot suit

Zoom lens

Zoology

Zodiacal light

Zircon

Zipper

Zip gun

Zip code

Zinnia

Zeta - 6th letter of the Greek alphabet.

Zero

Zenith

I'm so glad I started this thread! You've all given me so many good ideas that I may create a second alphabet book when he's a little older.

You've also inspired me to re-think this one, focusing more on images that will be very familiar to him. For instance, he loves zippers--especially the one on my light green jacket. So that's the one I'll photograph. I think I'll pass on the ZITS, but I like the idea of LUMPS or BUMPS and may incorporate something similar into the book.

And Jasdip, I was planning to photograph ICE for the I, but I like the idea of the ICE HOUSE a lot better! It might not work for most babies, but this one sees the ice house all the time.

I have a VEST I could photograph (I'm wearing it right now), and a great pic of a VULTURE. Fortunately, I have no VALIUM. LOL

Thanks again, everyone!!

PS: I'm having trouble photographing a vasectomy. All the men I know are strangely reluctant......

lol lol lol ....

Forgot to mention.....

Mboston, I never heard of baggie books, but yes, I'm interested!

F--Fire fighter or fire truck. Our boys love trucks.
W--a picture of him splashing water in the tub

I'm not sure what you are looking for but I have some great fox pictures that I have taken. I could email one or put it on here.......if that is what you are trying to find.

Thanks, Jae, but I want to use photos I've taken myself. I should be able to pull this off. :-)

no problem! just didn't know for certain how you were wanting to do it. I knew it couldn't be that hard to find pictures of the items mentioned!

I like your project.

After your child gets older, you could make a book of place names listed in alphabetical order. You could fill it with places from A to Z, or use only places both of you have seen.

And then, you could make a family album including all photos you have of relatives. This would be a great way to keep your children in touch with relatives.

Then, there could be a book of foods, then animals.

Come to think of it, you do not have to wait until the kids are older. Start your books now and then introduce those to your children at appropriate times. Maybe you could entice someone to write bed time stories to go with the illustrations.

Oh no, Jem, just what I needed--more projects! LOL

But I love your ideas, and will undoubtedly use one or more of them. Probably more. I won't wait till my grandson is older, because then I'll be older.......and I'm aging rapidly! Thanks so much for passing these ideas along.

I'm a writer, so I won't have to entice someone to write bedtime stories. In fact, one of my bedtime stories is on the Internet. It's been online for 14 years!

Two Grey Cats

I am SO glad I read this thread!

Now I know that Wildchild is going to be Wildgrandma. (What happiness! Your first grandchild?)

AND I had the sweet pleasure of reading "Two Grey Cats". (Susan, have you been creative ALL your LIFE?)

So nice of you, Chisue! Actually, I'm somewhat of a late bloomer. I made a lot of art with my mother (an artist) when I was little, but I think I lost quite a bit of confidence when she died. (I was 9.) I didn't start writing for money until I went back to college in my forties and realized that all my professors were telling me how much they enjoyed reading my papers. (My advanced age was probably part of the explanation.) :-)

I'm very glad you did 'bloom'! However, it had to be there, 'in the bud' to start with. I don't recall ever having that in *me*.

DH's natural wit started coming through after we were married. (Got his mother's foot off his neck!) Our DS is an untapped well (if he only realized it). He's 40 -- still time -- and he's wonderful with his kids.

Will we get a First Birthday photo of Joey on the KT?

You certainly will! Thanks for asking. He just turned 9 months old a couple of days ago.....I think that's reason enough to post a picture, don't you? :-)

I'll go do that.