Growing a Reader from Birth: Your Child's Path from Language to Literacy

by Diane Mcguinness

Full of fascinating insights into infant behavior, Growing a Reader from Birth not only illuminates the stages of language learning in children but also wisely counsels parents on how to maximize interactions with their children and be a positive force in nurturing their child’s language from day one. An essential guide to understanding a child’s emerging language from the first days of babbling through a five-year-old’s mastery of reading.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Education, Psychology, Books About Books

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[moved to storygraph robina_khalid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently re-read this book (having read it for the first time in the summer of 2004, I believe) and unsurprisingly found it even more engaging now that I have an infant. Less an obnoxious "how to make your child precocious" manual and more a really accessible overview of many of the studies done on how children acquire language from infancy and beyond. Be forewarned that those studies sometimes come to some pretty classist conclusions and the author really emphasizes the role of the mother to an extent that becomes a little problematic -- fathers are essentially never mentioned. That being said, I really enjoyed reading this book; the author's style is surprisingly lively and while I don't know that it changed the way I talk to my two-month old, it certainly makes me more conscious of why I talk to her the way I do!

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some good stuff in here -- e.g. the reminder to draw your child into conversation rather than asking lots of yes/no questions or giving your child lots of commands. Give your child the opportunity to listen to and to learn to tell stories.

All in all, though, I found it guilt-inducing (and John already loves books) and sometimes confusing. The author doesn't like picture books, which puzzles me. I figure that if we read to John a lot, he will become an avid reader, just like we are.

[Hawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I felt it wasn’t distinctly clear for whom it was written. It’s almost for a teacher, but not entirely for a home educator. It felt neither here nor there. I did skip through it as I no longer have babies and feel well versed on encouraging pre-literacy… I found it to be less instructive or clear than I had hoped. It recommends certain programs but without great depth in the recommendation. It’s a so-so book for me. Far less helpful than I had hoped.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guide to understanding how children (from birth to preschool) gain the necessary skills to become readers: hearing sound, understanding oral language, learn words, and then read and write. Provides tips for parents at each stage. Also dives into the U.S. school system's failure to teach and advice for parents on the best learning to read program.

A little difficult to get into and also a little guilt-inducing...but the last few chapters made up for it.

[Trần · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a parent, I found this book helpful for me to answer many “why” and “how” questions to accompany my kids on the reading journey.

[Damien A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old college text. Very good

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read books for parents and teachers of young children. The chapters were divided into the different years of a child's life and were specific and informative without letting the writing get too dry. Mcguinness gave specific examples and suggestions while filling readers in on the developmental context for why such suggestions would be successful. This is definitely a book to refer back to often as the children you encounter grow older and develop new skills. I truly believe that to foster a love of reading is to set a child up for future success and Mcguinness feels very strongly about that as well. I forgot often that the book was based on the UK education system because so many of the suggestions were universal, and many of the studies she cites were conducted in the US. In the conclusion, Mcguinness posits that dyslexia may not be a real condition and I plan to look into that assertion more.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific book - great for parents of children up to age 5. There are even tips at the end for parents who have older kids who are poor readers. Most of the book focuses on language development, the premise being that in order to be a good reader, you first must be a good listener. The author extracts information from studies done on language development and literacy up to age five. She basically does the research for you, then gives you the important points. She also has lots of tips on how to foster language development in your child. Really a great book for anyone who is interested in helping their child grow their language skills. Her other books sound interesting too . . . maybe I'll add those to the list.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about how babies/children acquire language. It's fascinating to learn that babies are absorbing aspects of language even before birth, and how a parent can recognize different stages of language growth.

This book is not suggesting that readers can accelerate their child's language growth but it does coach the parent on how they can provide the best, clearest support.

The final section of the book attempts to persuade the reader since the author strongly promotes one reading program over alternatives.

I would recommend this book for a parent or soon-to-be parent who is already interested in language and/or teaching their child to read.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book about language development. It was interesting to read it at the same time as the Read-aloud handbook. The two books cite some of the same studies and give some of the same advice. Then they diverge, one focusing on reading aloud, and the other focusing on teaching the English code correctly. I'll let you guess which is which.
It is a good idea that she has, to teach how to read. Rather than saying "this letter says..." you teach them "this/these letter(s) can represent the following sound." It is a shift in thinking.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been interested in children's literacy lately, and the way our society is drifting away from the written word. I felt compelled to look into this book and see how we as a society can work on facilitating our next generation toward being a culture of readers. Overall it pointed out so many things that I never knew and it has given me a lot of information to consider should I decide to get involved with a library program, or a school program promoting literacy.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

good if you want to learn how we learn how to read. good if you're a parent with a child who is learning to or is going to learn how to read. good if you're a teacher confused about the reading wars. she writes clearly and informatively, and she includes useful examples from life recordings, studies/experiments.

the end chapters will make you frustrated with how we are teaching reading in america.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still haven't finished it because I like to read just the sections that pertain to my child's age. However I have read enough to know that it's a three star book. Some information is good, but like most books of this type, there's too much explanation of unnecessary things. I like to get right to the point--just tell me what to do to make my child love reading.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very informational book, a bit boring at times, but has some very valuable info too. It helped me better understand how young children develop language and made me realize how important it is to talk and interact with your young children. If you are looking for more information about early childhood development this is a great book to try.

[Ransom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Language develops in children quickly. It isn't easy to quantify how much a child understands, but this book gives good ideas about how to manage it and turn your child into a reader.

Breaks up the book into pieces determined by age and vocabulary to understand what the child needs in order to succeed.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Diane's thorough approach to helping parents understand their role in their child's language development. It's a tad on the nerdy-linguist side of literature, which suited me to a T. I particularly liked the final chapter and her discussion of how current phonics programs are getting it right --and not-so-right. Great information!

[Janey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very very interesting. I had to start skimming through and wasn't able to get to the most important chapter at the end before having to return it to the library. Perhaps I'll check it out again or look at other McGuinness' books about reading/writing.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging perspective on how children develop language in preparation for becoming readers. Intriguing, although some of it seems far-fetched.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It's quite readable, with only the occasional foray into serious academia. It talks about how babies learn language and create the framework they need to learn to read.

[Danine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new if read as a parent, and know your grammar. Redundant and dry.

[Leandra Cate · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is really about the various stages of language acquisition, not really about "how to" raise a reader. I thought the tone was judging and the information not sufficiently nuanced.