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I sing the praises of the Sensory Alphabet to everyone I can because it changed the way I think about and work with young children. It helps me go beyond the usual belief that simply giving children access to lots of materials equals creativity. Rather, this approach gave us the vocabulary to talk about children’s creativity with the kids themselves, and once they know the ‘words,’ so to speak, they have so much to say!

The Missing Alphabet is so intuitive, you might ask yourself, ‘Why haven’t I realized this before?’ But just as quickly, you’ll begin to see the world and your child in a new way.”

Leah Hanson

Manager of Early Learning Programs
Dallas Museum of Art

Why is it that when you ask a room full of kids under five if any of them are creative, almost every hand in the room goes up – but when the same question is asked of middle schoolers, only one or two respond? Marcus and team, in The Missing Alphabet, detail the answer: we’re not developing creative thinking like we need to be. And indeed, we didn’t even have the language to do so – until now!”

Dr. Larry Johnson

Chief Executive Officer
The New Media Consortium

I love this book! Science is showing that children’s education must expand beyond the three Rs to include the basic building blocks of creativity and social-emotional learning. The authors provide a sensory alphabet to hone a child’s attunement to everyday experiences and provide a strong foundation for such growth.”

Susan L. Smalley, PhD

Professor Emeritus,
Department of Psychiatry

Jane and Terry Semel Institute of
Neuroscience and Human Behavior

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Press

Skinny Mom says, “It’s a Must Read.”

A Must-Read for parents who want to develop their child's creative thinking

Skinny Mom blog | November 16, 2012

With 40 years of experience studying how children learn and create, Susan Marcus, Susie Monday, and Cynthia Herbert, PhD. have written an amazing book, The Missing Alphabet: A Parents’ Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids. This is a must have read for parents and educators wishing to help their children develop and expand upon their own ability to be innovative and to solve problems using their creativity.

“Wonderful new parents’ resource…” Says Educator

The Missing Alphabet Review on Planet Weidknecht

Planet Weidknecht |

Now that the whole world is connected and digitized, there is a real danger that children will become passive thinkers. As an early childhood educator, I see a real need for children to have true opportunities to develop creative thinking skills so they can succeed and excel in the future. Thanks to Susan Marcus, Susie Monday, and Cynthia Herbert, there is a wonderful new parents’ resource on hundreds of ways to provide children these opportunities.

Home: A Place for Ideas

Excerpt from “The Missing Alphabet”

Susan Heim on Parenting | October 1, 2012

Authored by a team of veteran educator/researchers, The Missing Alphabet is “Creativity 101.” Charting a pragmatic path through the often-misunderstood territory of creativity and the even more mysterious realm of talent, this guide brings parents clear information on creative development, backed up by current brain science. The Missing Alphabet is a colorful field guide chock full of activities and a thoughtful approach to managing creativity in our busy, everyday lives. By outlining why innovation is Read More →

Authors teach how to raise creative kids

The Austin American-Statesman | September 21, 2012

The next book by local authors is “The Missing Alphabet: A Parents’ Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids” by Susan Marcus, Susie Monday and Cynthia Herbert. The genesis of “The Missing Alphabet” by Susan Marcus, Susie Monday and Cynthia Herbert goes back to when they worked together on the Learning about Learning program in San Antonio that was based at Trinity University in the 1970s and ’80s. The program integrated creativity into schools. Local Read More →

Beyond the 3 R’s

‘Missing Alphabet’ aims to nurture 21st Century creativity

Chicago Tribune | September 11, 2012

Creativity is sometimes painted as a black or white trait: Either a child is creative or he isn’t. Adding insult to irony, creativity is often used as a euphemism for artsy-craftsy inclinations, as if those preclude a future as CEO. The authors of a book due in October, “The Missing Alphabet: A Parents’ Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids” (Greenleaf Book Group Press), contend that creativity not only can be learned, it also must Read More →