Acts of literacy vary a great deal�for example, reading a listing in a phone book, reading a Shakespearean play, and reading a dissertation on electromagnetic force. In focusing in this report on preventing reading difficulties among young children in the United States, we take a limited view of reading, putting aside many issues and concerns that would belong to a full consideration of literacy in various societies inside and outside the United States. We then describe skilled reading as it is engaged in by adults and continue by describing how children develop to become readers. First, we outline how children develop language and literacy skills before they begin formal reading instruction. In this chapter, we review research on the process of reading and what happens as children become readers.
