This study compares the conditions of emergent literacy in French and Québécois settings. We first consider the curricula and the objectives set in both countries from the last year of kindergarten to the end of the second year of primary school. Then we present a didactic tool widely used in the two countries. A common grid used to compare these teaching supports analyses the linguistic structures and the semantic and cultural properties of the texts used in reading classes. Finally, we present a comparison of the reading and writing activities proposed in different sets of pedagogical tools. These comparisons allow us to identify some common and divergent points in the teaching of the written language within French and Québécois institutional frameworks.