Publisher's Synopsis
The Red Well-Read Reader-containing 361 fun, rhyming, thought-provoking stories-teaches children of all ages how to comprehend the written word, not just straightforward expressed meanings but, more important, implied meanings too. Most important, it teaches children how, not what, to think! Systematically, using phonics intensely, the stories cover the entire phonetic structure of the English language. There is one story for every family of words (viz., similar words sharing a common ending spelling (phoneme). STORY 1, Nabbed, through STORY 32, The Razzmatazz, cover the "short a" sound; STORY 33, On the Quay, through STORY 59, Praise the Lord, cover the "long a" sound; STORY 60, The Bizarre Czar through STORY 73, Marv and Harve, cover the "r" sound, and so on through seventeen more classifications. The most distinguishing feature of this book is that it benefits each student to the full extent of his or her individual ability. On one hand, because the stories are in large part slightly over the heads of virtually all beginning learners, not even the most mature and quick learners will ever get bored; while, on the other hand, because the level of difficulty decoding (viz. "reading" words, sentences, and so forth irrespective of comprehension) remains constant throughout, slower learners will never feel overwhelmed. What's more, this book should make children, as well as parents, laugh hardily and smile broadly, no matter how often the rhyming stories are read. The book offers parents- not hours, days, or months-but countless time over years to interact with their intellectually maturing children, helping them discover more of the stories' nuances while discussing the wide array of provocative subject matter which the stories touch upon. By and by, both slow and fast learners alike should become astute readers, critical thinkers, and facile speakers. When finished with this book, in a year or more, children should be well on their way to realize the full compass of their God-given abilities and be on track to become tomorrow's leaders!
