My First French ABC & Words Workbook.
Talk, colour, trace, count and play in French & English
A first French workbook for ages 4–7: four pages for every letter from A to Z, plus numbers, colours, games and little conversations, with every instruction in French and English and simple pronunciation hints, so a grown-up with no French can join in.
180 pages · Paperback · Ages 4–7
four entries in a row from the picture dictionary, as printed: each word with its le or la, the English and the hint
What's inside.
Warm-ups, numbers and colours first, then four pages for every letter from A to Z, the special sounds of French, two games and a picture dictionary.
This is a first French workbook for a child of four to seven and the grown-up beside them, and the grown-up does not need to speak French. Every instruction is printed in French with the English under it, and the picture words and model sentences carry a pronunciation hint in square brackets, spelt out for an English reader: le hérisson is [luh ay-ree-sohⁿ]. A key on page 8 explains the hints once, with a note on each sound English lacks, the French u and r and the nasal vowels among them. The child does not need to read: the grown-up reads the French aloud, and the child points, says, traces and colours.
The alphabet takes four pages a letter. A tracing page models the capital and the small letter stroke by stroke, with start dots and numbered arrows, then gives the letter's own word and two more to trace: A comme avion, with l’abeille and l’arbre. Next comes a page to practise and play: a grown-up says the picture words aloud and the child circles the ones that begin with the letter's sound, or finds the letter inside each word, and then there is a maze, a dot-to-dot, a letter hunt, a matching game or a word to unscramble. Then a full-page picture to colour, with a box beside its word to colour blue for un or red for une, and on its back an optional page to draw or write on. A short review follows every fifth letter, and four last units cover what makes French look and sound French: é, è, ê and ç, then ch, ou and oi, and the nasal vowels on, an–en and in.
Around the alphabet sit the other first things: ten pages of pencil warm-ups, from straight lines to snail-shell spirals, numbers to 10 with 11 to 20 as an extra challenge, ten colours and five shapes. Lina and Ben, the two children of the book, lead eight short conversations: saying hello and your name, your age, the colour, food and toy you like, how you feel and who is in your family, with a recap at the end, and each one finishes with the child asking the grown-up the question back. At the back are a board game through an enchanted forest, sixteen pairs of memory cards to cut out, a picture dictionary of all 102 words with their le, la or l’, the answers for grown-ups and a certificate.
- 01L’alphabetThe alphabet: each letter's French name and a picture word
- 02GraphismePre-writing: ten pages of lines, zigzags, waves, loops and spirals
- 03Les nombresNumbers: trace and count 1 to 10, then 11 to 20 as a challenge
- 04Les couleursColours: ten colour words and a picture to colour by numbers
- 05Les formesShapes: five to trace and colour
- 06Les lettres de A à ZFour pages a letter: trace, play, colour, and an optional back
- 07RévisionA review page after every five letters
- 08Parlons !Short conversations with Lina and Ben, between the letters
- 09Accents et sonsé, è, ê and ç, then ch, ou and oi, and the nasal vowels
- 10Les jeuxA board game, and a memory game to cut out
- 11Mon imagierA picture dictionary of all 102 words
- 12SolutionsAnswers for grown-ups
Up front, a first word to trace and colour, a page for grown-ups and the pronunciation key; at the very end, a certificate and a page for your child's own first French words.
Why this edition.
No French needed
Every instruction is printed in French, then in English, and a grown-up reads the French aloud while the child points, says and traces. Short notes for grown-ups explain what to listen for on the page: that French h is never pronounced, or that c sounds like k before a, o and u. The answers to every puzzle are at the back.
Hints that read as English
Each hint is spelt to be read as English: a hyphen between syllables, a small raised ⁿ where the vowel goes through the nose, and no capitals, because French has no stressed syllable inside a word. The key on page 8 sets out each sound beside an English word to compare, from the a in father to the s in measure, shows how to make the French u and r, and says plainly that the hints are approximate.
Le, la and l’, un and une, from the start
Every noun is learnt with its little word: le ballon, la pomme, l’arbre. On each colouring page the child colours a box blue for un or red for une, a review page asks un or une for six words, and the picture dictionary adds (un) or (une) after every l’ word, where the article hides whether a word is masculine or feminine.
Tracing that shows the way
Each letter from A to Z is modelled stroke by stroke, with start dots and numbered arrows. The child traces with a finger first, then with a pencil, and the rows fade out to leave room to try alone. A four- or five-year-old can point, say and finger-trace with a grown-up; a six- or seven-year-old can trace and then carry on without the model, and the Défi tasks add an optional extra challenge.
Listen, find and play
Each letter's second page is for listening and play: a grown-up says the picture words aloud and the child circles the ones that begin with the sound, or finds the letter hiding in each word, then follows a maze, joins the dots, hunts for capitals and small letters or matches pictures to words. At the back, the enchanted forest board game asks for a French word on every picture square, and sixteen memory pairs are ready to cut out. Everything is on paper: there is no app or audio.
Colour, then draw on the back
Thirty full-page pictures to colour, from un avion to un singe, each with an optional page on its back: draw your own picture of the word, write its letters, or write the word itself. Coloured pencils and crayons work best; felt pens can show through onto the page behind.
Lina and Ben say hello on page 2, as printed: the French, the hint for grown-ups, the English. Then it is your child's turn
The details.
- Series
- Bilingual Bedtime
- Language pair
- French and English, with pronunciation hints for grown-ups
- Format
- Paperback
- Print length
- 180 pages
- Trim size
- 8.5 × 11 in
- Coverage
- The 26 letters with é, è, ê and ç; ch, ou, oi and the nasal vowels; 102 picture words; numbers to 20, ten colours and five shapes
- Illustrations
- Black-and-white line drawings throughout, with 30 full-page pictures to colour
- Level
- Ages 4–7
- Published
- October 2026
- ASIN
- B0HP7FH21C
More in French.
Every edition is printed on demand by Amazon.
Trace, colour and say your first French words together, one letter at a time.
Buy paperback