Workbooks that teach one thing at a time.
Lantern & Ladder is a small press in Utrecht. We make handwriting and early-learning workbooks for children aged 3 to 6. Every page starts with a dot and shows which way the pencil goes.
Ready, Set, Write!
Three workbooks that take a child from their first pencil strokes to writing whole sentences.
Ready! Lines & Letters
Little hands need practice before they can write. This book starts with the lines and curves that every letter is made of, moves on to simple shapes, then teaches the capital letters one at a time.
Buy it
- Amazon.com
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.nl
- bol.com
Shop links go live when the book is listed.
Set! Letters & Numbers
Your child knows the capital letters. Now meet their small partners, then count and write the numbers 0 to 20. Every number comes with something to count, so writing practice and early maths grow together.
Buy it
- Amazon.com
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.nl
- bol.com
Shop links go live when the book is listed.
Write! Words & Silly Sentences
Letters become words, and words become silly sentences. Your child traces first words, copies funny sentences and then writes their very own. Every sentence uses only words already taught, so nothing on the page is out of reach.
Buy it
- Amazon.com
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.nl
- bol.com
Shop links go live when the book is listed.
How the books work
Three things appear on every page, in every book. They are the whole method, and a child learns them once.
A dot to start on
The pencil goes down on the dot. A child who does not know where to begin cannot begin, and guessing is how bad habits start.
Numbered arrows
Each stroke has a number and a direction, drawn along the stroke itself. The order is the one schools teach, so nothing has to be unlearned later.
Help that fades
Every row runs from a solid letter to dotted copies to an empty space. By the end of the row your child is writing it alone, and neither of you had to decide when.
Made by two people in Utrecht
We are a small press. Every page in every book was drawn, checked and printed by us, which is why the books say what is in them on the cover and why the page counts on this site are the real ones. There is no algorithm choosing what goes in.
Teachers and kinderopvang
Sample pages, bulk orders and a person who answers email. If you are fitting these into a group of twenty, tell us what you need and we will tell you honestly whether these books do it.
What we are working on
Ready, Set, Write! is the first series, not the only one. If you want to hear when the next one is ready, the list below is the only way we will tell you.
Dutch editions
The same three workbooks, set in Dutch, for children learning to write here.
A colouring series
Big shapes and thick outlines, for the age just before a pencil is held properly.
Hear about the next book
One or two emails a year, when a new book is ready. Nothing else.