Abstract
School manuals for teaching how to read played a determining role in the process of alphabetizing Brazil in the early 20th Century. Its contents were guidelines which pretended to direct children towards a nationalist character, proud of their country, through the creation of working habits, civility and hygiene, in a time of modernization in which a national consolidation was sought after. By means of such manuals the Brazilian youth acquired moral and religious values; through text and images the concept of an ideal childhood was portrayed, surrounded by games and fantasy, far from the social reality during those times. School was then an ins t rument through whi c h the dominant ideas were spread, pretending to reflect a seal of nationality.
