Literacy is the most powerful initiator of human development. Its foundation lies in the period before the beginning of formal education and, for this reason, the creation of equal conditions for the acquisition of early literacy skills is an indispensable obligation and responsibility of the State, pre-school institutions and all professionals involved in the educational process. However, in Croatia, the content of pre-school programmes is not clearly defined and there is a great disparity in the level of school readiness among first grade students. Therefore, it is necessary to define specific skills that need to be included in the early literacy programme, and to study the existing international programmes that can serve as an example. The leading question of this paper is the potential of making a programme for Croatian language, based on the collected data about necessary skills and existing programmes. The main objective is to contribute to the possibility of creating a specific programme to encourage early literacy, applicable to institutions of early and pre-school education in Croatia. The methods used in this paper include descriptive analysis of two American programmes: ‘School - Home Links Reading Kit : Kindergarten Activities’ and ‘Read it Again - PreK!’, brief review of Croatian programme ‘Od jezika do pismenosti’, and display of theoretical basis of the importance and ways to encourage certain skills. Based on numerous studies, the content of both American programmes is presented according to the five early literacy skills: phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, narrative and print knowledge. With the description of instructions and materials for the implementation of activities and adjustments for Croatian language, the review of each programme closes with a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages, and possible adjustments of these programmes to suit Croatian pre-school institutions. All of the above demonstrates there is a potential in designing a Croatian programme based on the collected data. It also emphasizes the value of structure and distinct examples in prevention of unequal school readiness and possible long-term difficulties in reading and writing.