Reading and Loving

Originally published in 1977. Learning to read is probably the central educational achievement of any child’s life. It is also a central concern for parents and teachers. Leila Berg, known for her work in children’s literature, believes that the enjoyment of books and the acquisition of reading and writing is not primarily an academic or a technical skill, but grows from a warmly physical and emotional base of shared enjoyment with another human being. This book traces the varied ways that babies learn to communicate, and discusses the place of books in the lives of different groups in the community. It examines the types of books used in school, and demonstrates that, in many cases, books themselves provide the major inhibition to the development of reading through their stilted and often formalistic vocabulary. The author’s aim is that all children’s first experience of reading should be a loving and sensuous one, so that they can come to discover the power of books themselves.