Italic Handwriting Book B Grade 1
With Italic Book B, first graders learn lowercase, capitals, and numbers through lively sentences and clean, logical strokes—perfect for building confidence and legible writing skills.
$13.75
Quantity:
Italic Handwriting Book B teaches your first grader to write lowercase letters, capitals, and numbers using the Getty-Dubay italic method, with practice words and sentences building alongside each new letter. The letters are sized for first-grade hands, and the workbook turns from the long edge so his writing hand isn't fighting the spine.
For years, this was the only handwriting program Timberdoodle carried. The reason is the italic letterforms themselves: the printed alphabet a child learns in Book B is the same alphabet, structurally, that becomes cursive later—so the transition to joined writing is mostly a matter of adding connecting strokes, not relearning how letters are shaped. Kids who start with traditional ball-and-stick printing often have to unlearn it before cursive makes sense. Italic skips that step.
Book B assumes no prior handwriting instruction—just a first grader who's ready to start. It's also the last book in the series focused solely on basic italic; Book C and up bring in cursive italic alongside the basic letterforms. If your child is ready for first-grade handwriting and you want one method that carries through to cursive, this is the right starting point.
How to Use Italic Handwriting Book B
- Two pages a week is a steady pace. Book B reviews letter formation and moves into short words and sentences. At two pages per week, the book's 64 pages fit into a typical school year with room for breaks. More is fine if your child wants to do more; less is fine if he doesn't.
- Partial pages count. Some first graders can work through a full page in one sitting; others can't. Splitting a page across two days is a normal way to work through this book at this age.
Handwriting today is both a tool for learning and a professional skill. We need a handwriting style that keeps up with the demands of modern life. It needs to be legible and logical, easy to write and easy to learn.
When it comes to being understood, handwriting still matters.
And yet, as authors Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay write, “American handwriting is in a woeful state. We have become a 'please print' nation. But there is hope. We can stop mumbling on paper and become legible writers. We can go italic.”
Keep the focus on learning.
For early learners, literacy and language development are foundations of readiness, and research suggests that handwriting is a key component. Learning to write letters and form words are powerful first steps toward academic success.
A seamless transition.
With the Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series, kids learn one alphabet — basic italic transitions naturally to cursive. In elementary school, handwriting is an important scaffold for basic literacy skills. For middle school students, fluent handwriting means more language arts success, and better preparation for high school.
Publisher's Information
Publisher: Getty-Dubay Productions
Authors: Barbara Getty & Inga Dubay
Age Recommendation: 6-7
Grade Recommendation: 1st
Faith-Based: No
Consumable: Yes
Pages: 64
ISBN: 9780964921566
Format: Softcover
Copyright: 1994
Made in: USA
Awards and Endorsements from:Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about this product below:
For students, shorter, meaningful and regular practice is better than longer and/or sporadic sessions. For 1st grade we recommend 30-100 minutes per week (6-20 minutes per day).
Some general recommendations:
- Plan on practicing no more than a page at one sitting.
- Spend some time during practice doing some self-assessment. Encourage the student to choose which letters (or joins) they did well, have them mark them and try to replicate those. Ask them to choose which ones they feel do not match the model and therefore need a mental plan (e.g. “I want the ‘h’ ascender downstroke to be straighter”.)
- Put practice to use as soon as you can. For instance, try to avoid asking them to practice a single letter over and over.
- While you might be tempted to jump around in the book, we suggest going page by page, reading all the material as you go.
- Do start with the “Pre-Test” sample of your student's current handwriting. It will be important to see how your student's handwriting has changed over time when the book is finished and the student does the “Post-test".
While you may experience improved handwriting after just a few sessions, most gains will come from repeated practice over time. Handwriting is a lifelong skill built up over many years of study. As you use the workbook, encourage the student to try out your new handwriting on other school work, especially spelling and vocabulary lists, writing short compositions, thank you notes, and other correspondence.
Print / Basic / Manuscript: Writing with no letter joins. Some systems call their printing "ball and stick."
Cursive / Script / Longhand: Writing with joined letters. Used to increase the speed and ease of writing by limiting the number of times one lifts the pen or pencil from the paper.
Serif: An addition to the letter used in cursive writing to initiate the join.
Letterform: The path the writing tool takes to form the letter, numeral or punctuation.
Calligraphy: Literally means "Beautiful writing". Used for formal correspondence, presentations, or artwork. Not intended to be written quickly. Tools: edged pen and ink (either felt, cartridge or dipped), or brush.
Handwriting: Everyday writing used for communication and notes, often with the necessity for speed and legibility. Tools: pencil, felt-tip or ball-point pen, crayon, etc.
The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series is a developmentally appropriate course that starts with Book A, is designed for use in Kindergarten, and progresses by grade through Book G. Each book supports the motor skill, attention span, and content level of its respective grade level.
If your student needs remedial handwriting work, it is best to use that Getty-Dubay Italic book that matches the student's language skill. For example, an 8th grader who needs help with basic italic would probably be happier using Book G, instead of going back to Books A or B.
Ask the child to look at the letter and tell you how it's different from the model. Is it wider, taller, thinner, smaller? Are the letters further apart than the model? Never, ever use the word "wrong." It is simply different from the model.
Encourage the child to assess his/her own writing, with your guidance.
As long as your child has mastered the letter shapes there is no reason to keep her from going ahead. Cursive italic is presented at the end of Book C, beginning on page 38. If possible, get her to work through a couple of earlier pages in Book C prior to trying her hand on the cursive joins.
Our books useful no matter with which hand you write. One way this is true is that where possible the page content is arranged carefully so that your writing hand does not cover up the handwriting model you are copying. For left handers we recommend having your wrist below the line of writing and slanting the paper down to the right — in other words, a slight turn in the clockwise direction. Having good over-all posture and enough space for comfortable movement of your arm are also important for a good handwriting experience.
For parents of left-handed children: Left-handedness is perfectly natural, but does present some challenges in our right-handed-centric world. The good news is that, with encouragement, left-handed writers do find ways to adapt. Never insist that the student change writing hands.
- November 27, 2025
Nareda W.
very pleased with Italic writing training
- November 5, 2020
Good series
Jennifer R.
This is a solid curriculum. Easy to teach and easy to see improvement.
- September 30, 2020
Improving Already
Tara O.
I have seen a marked improvement in my 1st grader's print since starting the Italic Handwriting Book a couple months ago. She completes 1-2 pages per week and while she doesn't love the work, we look at it as a character building moment in perseverance and concentration. I still have to give reminders at the beginning of each session to focus and go slowly through the work, as she'll try to race through it otherwise to get on to another activity. I'm glad we incorporated handwriting into her curriculum, as I really enjoy being able to read her writing now that it's becoming more legible. I do wish that they would have included 2-3 copies of each page for additional practice as needed.
- September 12, 2020
Simple Handwriting
Morgan P.
I want my children to enjoy handwriting and eventually know cursive. This is an easy and simple program with beautiful results.
- February 26, 2020
Repeat customer!
Bernadine V.
Used for my now adult children, just purchased for my granddaughter who was overwhelmed by cursive. The simplicity of the serifs' and the "holding hands" picture alleviated the tension in just one lesson. Found her later in the day practicing on her own - enough said!
- May 9, 2019
Italic Handwriting Book B Grade 1
Kristy
I really appreciate this writing series, especially this book. My oldest completed this book as part of 1st grade and now my second child is working her way through as a kinder. I like the size of space given to learn to make each letter and the instructions included on how to form the letters. I also feel the number of times the child is asked to practice on each page is a great balance, not to many, not to few. In this book, we complete a page a day, and my kids have always been ready for the next level upon completion!
- November 29, 2012
Short and Simple
Mrs. S.
I am impressed with the concise activities in this book. Other handwriting books we have used seem to "run together" and don't always offer a clear lesson or activity, but this one does. Each page is it's own activity, and the lessons continue in a logical order. The words are short and grade-level appropriate, so the beginning reader actually has the opportunity to read and understand what they are writing, rather than just copying random letters.
- June 2, 2012
Our handwriting of choice!
Denice
We have used every book in the Italic Handwriting series with multiple children (we are now on our fourth time through them). We love them! The pages are simple in design with nothing flashy to distract the student. We usually only do a page or two a day. Each of my children have different handwriting, but by the end of the Italic Handwriting series, they have been clear and legible and easily transition into cursive writing.
- November 5, 2008
We have used Italic Handwriting for 17+ years!!
Mary S.
We have used Italic Handwriting for years (17 and counting) on Timberdoodle's initial recommendation. People have always commented on how neat our children's handwriting is. It is very legible and moves into calligraphy easily with a chiseled marker. My older children complained a little that their friends and relatives were writing a different way so, after they were proficient at italic cursive, we went over conventional cursive and I told them they were free to adjust their handwriting if they liked. I have liked the results of Italic Handwriting and we are continuing to use it with the rest of our 11 children. A benefit to teaching it is that I have improved at calligraphy myself.
- November 3, 2008
My son LOVED it!!
Michelle L.
My oldest son was resistant to learning cursive. Someone suggested letting him try calligraphy. It made me remember the information I had read about Italic Handwriting in the Timberdoodle catalog. We switched over to italic manuscript and then the transition to italic script was painless. My son LOVED it and his handwriting improved greatly. I also find using the program helpful for my other son who is dyslexic. He can work very independently and the lessons are short.
