The *Janet and John* books are now criticised for their lack of diversity, but their more serious weakness was educational. The look-and-say method encouraged children to memorise whole words instead of learning systematically how letters represent sounds. For some baby boomers, the consequences may have lasted a lifetime.
What if Europe had written in logograms instead of alphabets? This article explores the difference between phonological and logographic writing systems and asks how Europe’s cultural trajectory might have changed. From Latin as a lingua franca to the rise of vernaculars like Dante, Chaucer, and Luther’s Bible, the alphabet proved to be the hidden engine of literacy, dissent, and progress.