Disclaimer: We only mention the age of children for whom a book is geared when it is indicated on the publisher’s website.
The graphic alphabet, 1996
David Pelletier
Age 4 to 8 years
An alphabet that looks like a lettering textbook. In this publication, designer David Pelletier stylizes each letter with minimal invasion, matching it to the word it starts with. For instance, the letter M (mountain) reveals snow-capped peaks, while the K (knot) has a knot at its stroke joint.
The Graphic Alphabet. Images: Marygrove College Library
The Serif Fairy, 2007
Translated from German
René Siegfried
Age 2 to 6 years
A little serif fee travels the typography world, wandering through Didot Gardens, Garamond Forest, and the streets of Futura Town, entering the Bodoni Castle and exploring the underwater world of the Shelly Lake. All the characters she meets in those places are made up entirely of the glyphs of corresponding typefaces.
Die Kleine Serifee, the German edition of The Serif Fairy. Images: isbn.de
Are You My Typeface?, 2013
Jesse Austin-Breneman
For toddlers
A double-storey a meets different sans serif fonts (Gill Sans, DIN, Futura, Arial, Impact…), trying to figure out which typeface it is from. Ultimately, the letter finds out that her typeface is Helvetica.
Are You My Typeface? Image: Jesse Austin-Brenneman, Kickstarter
The Clothes Letters Wear, 2014
Jeremy Dooley
For toddlers
Speaking in grown-up language, one would say that it is a book on how to design a type family based on only a skeleton. For instance, the letters on the pages of this book try on serif shoes and pick inline-striped dresses.
The Clothes Letters Wear. Images: Jeremy Dooley, Amazon
Printer’s ABC, 2019
Diana Dăgădiţă
An ABC book where each English letter is accompanied by three to five terms related to typography or letterpress printing techniques.
Printer’s ABC. Images: Hamilton Wood Type
The ABC of Typography, 2019
David Rault
The history of writing, from Sumerian cuneiform to the present day, is packed into a 128-page comic book.
The ABC of Typography. Image: Sling and Arrows
The night the fonts did something naughty; The night the fonts farted, 2020
Sarah Hyndman
Age 3 to 7 years
Two books that invite children to think about what a certain typeface or a typographic composition might sound or smell. As the framework story, both books tell what fonts do while designers don’t look at them.
The night the fonts farted. Images: Typetasting
Meet the typographer, 2024
Translated from French
Gaby Bazin
Age 4 to 8 years
A book that briefly tells the history of typographic tools at different times, from styluses and clay tablets to letterpunches, and then takes you on a tour to explore the workshop of a typographer handling hot metal type.
Meet the typographer. Images: Counterprint Books