Customer Reviews
Good investigation of reading 
2008-06-10
Adams' text is seminal in the field of literacy, especially early literacy. Of course, originally published in 1990, the text is slightly out-dated, especially considering the vast body of educational and psychological research which has emerged in the past 18 years. However, as a seminal text, its influence is quite profound. The only reason it's marked a four instead of five is that Adams forgets that phonics is part of whole language (see Weaver's and Goodman's research and texts on reading) and was not meant to be separated from whole language. Instead, phonics instruction is contextual and authentic (based on reading/writing activities in which the students participate). Read Frank Smith, Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman & Eileen Burke, and Constance Weaver for some good analyses of reading - and definitely look for their research studies.
In Depth Study of Reading 
2008-01-21
If you are a reading teacher that is interested in learning how chldren learn to read and what methods work best, this is a fantastic book. Every possible variable is objectively broken down and examined. I learned more about teaching reading from this book than any other book I've read.
A summary is available. 2004-10-28
I have 30 years of experience as an educator in the area of indigenous education. This is a wonderful and exciting book for educators and researchers, who are used to the technical terminology and academic genre, but for teachers and parents, a 148-page summary of the book has been published, which is not an easy-reading style, but is beautifully written. Unfortunately it is out of print, but it is listed on Amazon.com, and sometimes it might be available used. This unabridged version was comissioned by the US government, to evaluate all of the research in beginning reading to the date when it was written. The author did a remarkable job of pulling it all together under one cover, and a brilliant job of evaluating and applying the research. Obviously there could be one or another research project since its publication which might invalidate some conclusion in the book. However, the major questions involved in teaching beginning reading have been thoroughly researched and there ARE definitive answers to the questions that are still being debated by teachers and parents ten and twenty years after the research was done. For example, this book (and its summary edition) tells you what kind of reading methods are most effective (there is no reason to continue to debate the phonics vs. whole language issue based on how you feel about them - see what research has proven to be most effective), what kind of preschool experience can still set the students apart even when they are graduating from high school, and other important facets of education which teachers and parents ignore to the detriment of their students.
Academic Review Of Reading That Is Not Fun To Read 
2004-07-31
This book contains gems: there is no question about that. The `reading-literacy' project was given solid funding by the government and Ms. Adams has done a superlative job of surveying the literature and coming up with reasonable conclusions.
That said, there is a problem. And the problem is that "Beginning to Read" was written for bureaucrats. The straightforward language we might expect from an educator and researcher is therefore made obscure, obtuse, and overly `officious'. [No doubt pleasing to the edu-crats.]
For example, (from page 413; the summary): "It is because of the process of comprehension consists of actively searching the overlap among words for syntactic and semantic coherence that reading depends so critically on the speed and automaticity of word recognition."
[Or, in other words, reading comprehension depends on speed and automatic word recognition so that the nascent reader can make use of syntax and semantics. ]
Not incomprehensible in it's original form, Adam's verbiage is awkward and somehow embarrassing for a book that is supposed to be about `reading' and `comprehension'.
Three Stars. A comprehensive survey of current and past literature, this book attempts--and in my opinion succeeds-- in reconciling the phonics versus whole language camps. However, expect a slog of it. [Unless of course you are an edu-crat in which case the officiousness will sound very convincing indeed-lol]
Anyone else interested in this topic but with less time might find the same information in a `tastier' format in the following books: Mem Fox's "Reading Magic"; and the slightly less digestible "Raising Lifelong Learners" by Lucy McCormick Calkins.
Pam T.
Brilliant review 2000-10-25
This book offers a wealth of information about reading development. It is a terrific source, as well for the scientist, as for the interested layman. Although it is biased toward the Seidenberg and McClelland model, the wealth of empirical data is more than compensating. It is an heroic attemt to synthesize different viewpoints.
The resource book on learning to read! 2000-06-10
Beginning to Read reconciles the debate that has divided theorists for decades over the "right" way to help children learn to read. Drawing on a rich array of research on the nature and development of reading proficiency, Adams shows educators that they need not remain trapped in the phonics versus teaching-for-meaning dilemma. She proposes that phonics can work together with the whole language approach to teaching reading and provides an integrated treatment of the knowledge and process involved in skillful reading, the issues surrounding their acquisition, and the implications for reading instruction.
A Bradford Book
Research? 
1999-12-04
Recent eye movement research by Dr. Eric Paulson refutes most of the finding in this text.
The best research compendium available on learning to read. 1999-02-24
This book was written under a federal contract in conjunction with the International Reading Association. Marilyn Jager Adams has compiled the most comprehensive review of the literature on learning to read done in the last 25 years. I have worked with teachers of reading for 20 years and this is the best book I have ever seen to give them guidance on what they should and should not do in the classroom. Well worth the money
Adams' book is the most informed source on reading , 1998-06-05
Marilyn Adams lead a Federally funded research team to conclusively determine what methods best support beginning readers. All educators can gain for Adams' informed investigation of whole language, phonics and other methods for teaching reading. The limits and strengths of these programs are clearly defined. More importantly, Adams defines what works for all readers- understanding the role the 44 sounds of spoken language plays in reading. Adams has put this understanding- phonemic awareness- in the forefront of reading. 70% of students acquire this awareness as part of their early development, as part of learning to speak. The 30% of students -millions of people- that do not pick this up after learning to speak and being exposed to literature rich environments need explicit instruction in this code. This is not phonics, but must be taught before phonic can help struggling readers. This is a wonderfully simple, easy to teach method that makes sense to children. It makes sense because this is how our brains have learned to process sounds for hundreds of thousands of years. This is important reading. Adams' other book, "Phonemic Awareness in Young Children", is a wonderful methods book for children under 6 years old.
