Hornbooks were a key educational tool in Shakespeare's day, and were used in helping children to learn the basics of the English language. These learning aids first appeared in England in the middle of the fifteenth century and were usually made of wood, leather or perhaps bone. Rectangular in shape, the handle at the bottom allowed for easy grasping by young hands. The face of the hornbook would have a sheet of either vellum or paper pasted or tacked onto it, which would display the alphabet (upper and lower case letters) and in most cases probably also the Lord’s Prayer. This would then be protected by a thin layer of bone or horn, which is where the hornbook gets its name.

Tudor children would not have been taught to read and write at the same time. Instead, being taught to read was the first priority, and they would use their hornbook as an aid to help them learn and memorise the alphabet and the Lord’s Prayer. Only once they had learnt to read would they then be taught the art of writing.

The horn book is part of the ancient collection. It was used to teach schoolchildren how to read

The horn book was my favourite item because it is covered with horn and is creative.

This is my favourite item because it is a small book and it is made out of wood and covered with horn.

I liked this because I could see how they learned to read

It is made of wood with horn covering the letters

My favourite Collections item is the horn book because it was interesting to see how Shakespeare learned to read and how they remembered the letters of the alphabet and the prayer.

I found the horn book interesting because that's what they used for learning to read instead of a book made from paper or writing things down on paper.

The horn book was my favourite because I think it's fascinating that the children took a copy of the alphabet to school - because now it's already at school for us.

The horn book is my favourite item because it is very interesting. You tied it onto your belt and it had the Lord's Prayer, your ABCs and your vowels.

The horn book was my favourite item because I think it is fascinating that they took a copy of the alphabet to school.

The horn book is my favourite. It has the Lord's Prayer on it and it has the alphabet at the top. It is covered with horn.

The horn book was my favourite because I thought it was cool that it was covered with horn.

I like the horn book because it is interesting to think about how Shakespeare learned to read. It has a covering of horn.

This is my favourite collections item because you would have used this in school at that time.

I like this because it helps you when you forget something