"With an informal and chatty voice, Dr. Smethurst presents a full-scale program for parents, caregivers, and early childhood and primary grade teachers to teach a young child to read up to the level of attaining meaningful comprehension. Smethurst provides detailed guidelines starting with an awareness of letters and letter sounds, to developing phonics and the other skills and vocabulary to comprehend text. The program is premised on keeping the learning process fun for the child by reading him or her stories and literature, playing games, making decorations that teach, making scrapbooks and journals, using computers, and engaging in a wide range of activities."--Jacket.