A reading corner can begin with a book and somewhere comfortable to open it. The alphabet board and the wooden blocks can come later, if they have a useful place there. We'd rather leave enough room to spread out a story than fill every inch of a shelf before anyone has sat down.
An alphabet with animals in it
Sandra Boynton's A to Z is a 16-page English board book that puts animal characters into the alphabet. It gives you a sequence to read, but you can also stop at a favorite illustration or return to one letter that has become interesting.
That's a different experience from looking at a fixed chart. There's a page to turn and something else waiting after it. Keep the book somewhere the adult reading can reach easily, with room to open it properly; the useful part of the corner is being able to spend time there.
A board to look at, or blocks to rearrange
Gladfolk's alphabet board and stand shows uppercase and lowercase letters on one engraved surface. The letters stay in view together, which may be what you want beside the books. Its construction combines plywood and hard maple.
The maple alphabet and numeral set has six solid maple blocks, with letters and digits on their faces. Those can move around the table, of course, but six blocks don't give you a separate piece for every letter.
That last detail matters if you're imagining spelling a particular name. Two letters you need might be on the same block, or a repeated letter may not be available twice. Take a look at the faces before planning the arrangement. Our guide to wooden shapes, blocks and letter boards compares the formats more closely.
Leave room for ordinary use
Measure the shelf or tabletop before choosing the board, and leave a place to gather all six blocks if you choose the set. It doesn't have to become a display that everyone is worried about disturbing. A clear patch of table and a place to put things back can do a lot.
Follow the actual age and care guidance for the wooden pieces. If they aren't suitable for the intended child, the shared reading doesn't need them. Our baby-play and shared-reading guide has ideas that begin with an adult and a book.
As the shelf grows, you might add a counting story or an opposites book. A counting story brings a different cast of animals to look at, while opposites offers another kind of picture to pause over. Keep the books you want to open where you can actually reach them.
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