The first readers for children in Ladino were translations or "imitations" from the Hebrew, including excerpts from Menorat ha-Ma'or, King Solomon's Proverbs, Josippon, and other works. The many coplas (folk sagas and ballads) found in Ladino literature greatly enriched the lives of children, e.g., Akedat Yizhak, Yosef ha-Zaddik, Nes Hanukkah, and others, as well as poems composed for recital on Purim, at carnival time, and on other holidays. In the 18th century, some of these works began to be published, such as Abraham de Toledo's Coplas de YoLef ha-Zaddik (Constantinople, 1732). An important collection of Ladino parables was published by Kayserling (Budapest, 1809). When the demand for education made itself felt in the Sephardi communities, many textbooks for children came to be published, especially in Constantinople, Smyrna, Salonika, Belgrade, and Vienna.

דף לח-סה: "סדר חנוכת הבית... אשר איזן ותיקן הגאון... חיד"א [חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי] ז"ל בסו"ס [בסוף ספרו] לדוד אמת [ליוורנו תקמ"ו] ומה שהוסיף... ר' ... חיים [פאלאג'י]... נר"ו בס' בית אבו[ת] ודרכי חיים [שאלוניקי תקפ"א]". הסדר כולל משניות ברכות, ביצה, תמיד, מכות, יומא, שקלים, עוקצין וראש השנה, קטעים מן הזוהר, מן הרמב"ם, הלכות דעות, פרק ה, הלכה יא- יג, והלכות בית הבחירה, פרק א.