In 2014, publishing company Fabriescolares released Coquito Escolar, a cartilla, or handwriting education booklet that shares its name with Coquito (1955), the most popular booklet of this kind in Colombia in the second half of the 20th century.
Coquito Escolar published by Fabriescolares.
While the 1955 booklet, published in Peru, featured near-vertical cursive writing, this new Colombian edition uses a free typeface called Learning Curve designed by Jess Latham, which is in a slanted continuous cursive style. Learning Curve is based on Latham’s own handwriting, and is available through Blue Vinyl Fonts. Along with Learning Curve, the booklet also uses “ball and stick” print style geometric letters for handwriting instruction.
Like other cartillas, the cursive writing in Coquito Escolar is based on the Palmer method, though it incorporates a few novel elements, such as the full cursive shape of the lowercase r. The lowercase letters have extenders of medium length that feature speed loops. Following the Palmer tradition, these loops are mirrored in the f and q. Some uppercase letters, such as the G, L and Z, have decorative and complex cursive shapes.
