Why Our Children Can't Read and What We Can Do About It
By insisting that her own method is the only way to teach reading, Ms. McGuinness may  overstate her case.... The real news this book brings us is that no child has to fail at learning to read, that  there are ways to help those who have trouble without consigning them to the dust heap of special-ed  classes. For parents of children with reading problems this book is a clear guide to effective remedial  programs. It would be a shame if its rather technical format were to discourage the audience it deserves to  find. --The Wall Street Journal, Rita KramerE.D. Hirsch, Jr. University Professor of Education and Humanity, University of Virginia; Author ofCultural Literacy: What Every American Should KnowWhy Our Children Can't Readis a superb achievement. A wide-ranging book that fuses history, linguistics, and psychology with the practicalities of teaching, its encouraging message is that every child can be taught if we teachers come to know exactly what we are doing. The book is spiced with well -researched critiques of 'whore language,' of uninformed methods of 'phonies,' and even of an eclectic 'balance' between phonics and whole language -- as well as devastating critiques of several other sacred cows. Some of these may moo back in protest, but this clearly written and authoritative work is the book to read for parents and teachers who wish everyone in our democracy to be able to read. --Review