Alliteration is the repetition of beginning sounds in two or more words, often consonants but vowels can be used – more common in Old English prose. English (language arts) classes, at all levels, learn the use of alliteration when studying poetry.

My students are currently studying literary devices, including alliteration. Last week, I shared my Halloween poem, The Headless Horseman Haunts on Halloween, with my freshman Language Arts class. They all agreed that using alliteration made the poem fun to listen to. They also felt that it added to the mood (emotion) of the poem’s story. The poem, although it was an alliteration example, also led into the introduction of new vocabulary.

For the younger grades, I recommend Dr. Seuss’s ABC: Amazing Alphabet Book!. Each line focuses on a letter in the alphabet used for that line’s alliteration. Also note that in many of the words the beginning sounds are repeated within the words themselves. (Dr. Seuss’s ABC and other poems can also be used as examples of consonance – repetition of consonant sounds within the words.)

We enjoyed reading Dr. Seuss’s ABC book (view video below) to our children when they were young, and now we are enjoy reading it to our grandchildren. Below you’ll find some of the lines from Dr. Seuss’s ABC book, but not the entire book. Enjoy reading the following alliteration examples…

Aunt Annie’s alligator
Barber baby bubbles and a bumblebee
Camel on the ceiling C…c….c
David Donald Doo dreamed a dozen doughnuts and a duck-dog, too
ear egg elephant
Four fluffy feathers on a Fiffer-feffer-feff
Goat girl googoo goggles
Hungry horse hay
Hen in a hat Hooray Hooray
Icabod is itchy
Jerry Jordan’s jelly jar and jam
Kitten Kangaroo Kick a kettle
Lazy lion licks a lollipop
Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight
Nine new neckties and a nightshirt
Oscar’s only ostrich oiled an orange owl today
Painting pink pajamas
The quick Queen of Quincy and her quacking quacker-oo
Rosy Robin Ross…riding on her red rhinoceros
Silky Sammy Slick sipped six sodas
Ten tied turtles on a tuttle-tuttle tree
Uncle Ubb’s umbrella
Vera Violet Vinn is very very very awful on her violin
Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo
Nixie Knox
A yawning yellow yak
Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz

Watch a video of Dr. Seuss’ ABC book here on Nana’s Corner: