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Ten Books and Articles EveryLiteracy Teacher Should KnowRichard Robinson aa University of Missouri-Columbia , Columbia,Missouri, USAPublished online: 05 Jul 2007.

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Reading Psychology, 28:213–220, 2007Copyright C© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0270-2711 print / 1521-0685 onlineDOI: 10.1080/02702710601186431

TEN BOOKS AND ARTICLES EVERY LITERACY TEACHERSHOULD KNOW

RICHARD ROBINSON

University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA

This article describes ten of what the author considers to be the most importantreferences in the field of literacy education based on their influence on teachingpractices and educational theory.

The purpose of this discussion is to acquaint you with some of thegreat classics in the field of literacy education. It is intended toprovide the reader with a broad background of knowledge con-cerning the major issues and developments that have shaped thecurrent teaching of reading. This list is not intended to be “some-thing to get through” but rather an opportunity to sample someof the best writing and thinking that has been done in the teach-ing of reading. If we as educators want to go beyond the merelycontemporary trends and issues, we will want to know somethingof the thinking that has laid the foundations of what we are aboutin today’s literacy world.

It should be made clear that knowing these resources will notgive you ultimate answers or definitive solutions to “learning theperfect reading approach,” or “how to solve Mary’s and Johnny’sreading problems.” Rather, you will find here a dialogue betweenreading authorities that extends across the years with depth andinsight involving almost every literacy issue you face in today’sclassroom. Reading authors such as Theodore Clymer, KennethGoodman, and P. David Pearson should challenge you as an edu-cator in your current literacy beliefs as well as classroom practices.Hopefully, these classics will do much more than just provide you

Address correspondence to Richard Robinson, University of Missouri-Columbia,211M Townsend Hall, Columbia, MO 65211. E-mail: robinsonr@missouri.edu

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214 R. Robinson

“simplistic” answers to complicated problems but rather be sourcesof self-discovery as a teacher.

While each of these publications is noteworthy in and of it-self, they are also important for initiating further research andclassroom practices following their initial publication. In manycases, these benchmark references were destined to set literacymovements and agendas for years beyond their original publica-tion date.

Obviously, this list of literacy books and articles included hereis the work and responsibility of this one author. Ask anyone abouttheir top list of football teams, restaurants, or movies and you willnot only get a wide variety in response but often a major emotionalreaction as well. “How could you possibly have a list like this andnot include so and so or this reference?”

Ultimate criteria for selection of the final group of books andarticles were their primary influences on the field of literacy edu-cation and their traditional value as seen by a wide variety of ed-ucators. A number of references would probably be on most listsof this type but were not included simply because of the difficultyin finding them today. For instance, The Psychology and Pedagogy ofReading (1908) by Edmund Huey is considered by many literacy ex-perts to be one of the most influential language books of all time.While it is readily available in most college and university libraries,it has not been reprinted for many years. The seminal work ofE. L. Thorndike (1917, 1921), particularly that related to literacycomprehension, would also fall in this category. Probably the mostserious omission is that of examples of the work of William S. Gray.Books such as On Their Own in Reading (1948) and The Teachingof Reading and Writing: An International View (1958) are reflectiveexamples of this most prolific author and researcher.

Putting together the following list of books and articles wastruly a labor of love. It forced me to reflect back on a professionallifetime of reading of some the great works in our field. Whilesome are now over 50 years old, they often read as if they werewritten yesterday. Perhaps Sir Isaac Newton said it best in a slightlymodified quote:

If we see further today [in literacy education] it is simply because we standon the shoulders of giants.

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Ten Books Every Literacy Teacher Should Know 215

References

Gray, W. S. (1948). On their own in reading. Chicago: Scott Foresman.Gray, W. S. (1958). The teaching of reading and writing: An international view. Paris:

UNESCO.Huey, E. (1908). Psychology and pedagogy of reading. New York: Macmillan.Thorndike, E. L. (1917). Reading as reasoning: A study of mistakes in paragraph

reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 8, 323–332.Thorndike, E. L. (1921). Word knowledge in the elementary school. Teachers

College Record, 22, 350.

The Philobiblon: The Love of Books (1345)

Richard de Bury

This great book is one of the first written on the love of read-ing. Although over 650 years have passed since its publication, thiswonderful essay still has much to say to the contemporary educa-tor. Richard de Bury was born in 1281 in England and spent mostof his professional life in a variety of government positions. Con-temporaries of de Bury frequently noted his large personal library,which included a wide variety of manuscripts and books. It was saidthat you could not walk through his different homes without stum-bling on his many books. Perhaps the best way to introduce ThePhilobiblon is simply to let the author speak through the followingquotes:

The desirable treasure of wisdom and science [the reading of good books],which all men desire by an instinct of nature, infinitely surpasses all theriches of the world; in respect of which precious stones are worthless; incomparison with which silver is as clay and pure gold is as a little sand; atwhose splendor the sun and moon are dark to look upon; compared withwhose marvelous sweetness honey and manna are bitter to the taste. . . Alibrary of wisdom, then, is more precious then all wealth and all things thatare desirable cannot be compared to it. Whoever therefore claims to bezealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom or knowledge, aye, even of thefaith, must become a lover of books.

In books we find the dead as if they were alive.Books delight us when prosperity smiles upon us; they comfort us

inseparably when stormy fortune frowns on us. They lend validity to humancompacts, and no serious judgments are made without their help.

All the glory of the world would be buried in oblivion, unless God hadprovided mortals the remedy of books.

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216 R. Robinson

These quotes are only a sampling of the wisdom and understandingfound in this book. Educators at all levels should find inspirationfrom De Bury as they face the challenging tasks of teaching literacyeducation.

A selection of Richard De Bury’s writing is currently availablein the book Classics in Literacy Education (Robinson, 2002) pub-lished by the International Reading Association.

Reference

Robinson, R. D. (2002). Classics in literacy education. Newark, DE: InternationalReading Association.

American Reading Instruction (1934, reprinted 1965, 1986, 2002)

Nila Banton Smith

This book is one of the early histories of literacy instruction.It is considered by many to be one of the foundational books inthe study of the history of reading. For classroom teachers,

American Reading Instruction clearly describes the early devel-opments of many of the current practices followed today in readinginstruction. This book also illustrates from a historical perspectivethe seemingly endless debates over many of the instructional prac-tices commonly found in literacy such as the role of phonics, assess-ment methods in reading, and the value of a particular approachto teaching in this field. Unfortunately, there has often been littlelearned from those experiences of educators of the past and thusmany of literacy practices today are little more than a repeat ofwhat has been learned by former teachers. For those interested inthe study of the rich history of literacy education, American ReadingInstruction is an excellent beginning point.

American reading instruction: Special edition (2002) is currentlyavailable from the International Reading Association. A selectionof the writing of Nila Banton Smith is currently available in thebook Classics in Literacy Education (Robinson, 2002) published bythe International Reading Association.

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Ten Books Every Literacy Teacher Should Know 217

The Utility of Phonics Generalizations (1963)

Theodore Clymer

Speak to almost anyone about literacy education, whether pro-fessional educator or layman, the phonics issue will no doubt beraised. This research study on the fundamental effectiveness of 45of the most often taught phonics generalizations should be a cor-nerstone reading for all those interested in the phonics issue. Forinstance, probably the most often taught phonics generalization is“When there are two vowels side by side, the long sound of the firstone is heard and the second is usually silent.” According to theresearch reported here, this generalization is only applicable 45%of the time! Clymer notes on this rather disturbing development:

As one teacher remarked when this study was presented to a reading meth-ods class, “Mr. Clymer, for years I’ve been teaching ‘When two vowels gowalking, the first one does the talking.’ You’re ruining the romance in theteaching of reading!”

This article has been reprinted in a number of locations andis currently available in the book Readings in Reading Instruction:It’s History, Theory, and Development (Robinson, 2005) published byAllyn & Bacon and also in Issues and Innovations in Literacy Education:Readings From the Reading Teacher (Robinson, 2006) published by theInternational Reading Association.

References

Robinson, R. (2005). Readings in reading instruction: It’s history, theory, and develop-ment. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Robinson, R. (2006). Issues and innovations in literacy education: Readings from thereading teacher. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

What Should We Teach in Reading (1951)Arthur Gates

In this relatively short essay written over 50 years ago, ArthurGates discusses not only the importance of leaning the mechanicsof reading but also encouraging the love of reading as well. Notethe following statement from this article about what we, as literacyeducators, should be about in our work with students.

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218 R. Robinson

There can be but two goals toward which we aim in teaching reading—or,more precisely, a single goal with two aspects: to teach children to read welland to love to read. For unless they learn to read well, children will not loveto read; and unless they love to read they will not read well.

In this day of emphasis on standardized test results, languageskills mastery, and workbook achievement, it is refreshing to reada simple but eloquent statement of what really should be most im-portant in any effective literacy instructional program. This articleshould be required reading for all teachers, school administrators,and parents.

Why Pupils Fail in Reading (1946)

Helen M. Robinson

This is the one book on the list that may be difficult to obtain,other than through a university library. It was included here be-cause of its future influence on the diagnosis and remediation of lit-eracy difficulties. Robinson’s work was one of the first to present theidea that most language problems were the result of many causes,not just one, as had been generally believed prior to the publi-cation of this book. While the specific diagnostic and remedialprocedures described here may be somewhat dated, the philoso-phy of assessment and remediation is of fundamental importance.Reading this book should provide current classroom teachers ofliteracy a solid background in better knowing the often complexlanguage problems of their students.

Understanding Reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading andLearning to Read (1971)

Frank Smith

Understanding Reading is considered a classic in the field ofliteracy education. It was to set an agenda that was destined tochallenge many of the most traditional views of reading instruc-tion held by educators. Whether you agree or disagree with thisauthor’s educational philosophy or suggested literacy curriculum,as an informed educator you should read a selection of his writing.Few read this material without being affected as to their philoso-phy of literacy or instructional practices. Most of his books havebeen reprinted in numerous editions and are all readily available.

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Ten Books Every Literacy Teacher Should Know 219

Other work by Frank Smith:

Smith, F. (1987). Joining the literacy club: Further essays into education.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Smith, F. (1985). Reading without nonsense. New York: Teachers Col-lege Press.

Smith, F. (1990). To think. New York: Teachers College Press.

Learning to Read: The Great Debate (1967)

Jeannie Chall

This important book was written during an earlier debateover the appropriate role of phonics in literacy instruction. Challpresents a detailed discussion in this book of what she considersto be the significance of the sound/symbol relationship as beinga meaningful component of an effective literacy curriculum. Aparticular strength of this book is the many suggestions for the im-plementation of the author’s ideas related to the effective role ofphonics in a typical classroom setting. For teachers today, it is oftenhelpful to know the historical context of the current discussion ofmany of the same issues that are addressed in this book.

Other work by Jeannie Chall:

Chall, J. (1983). Stages of reading development. New York: McGrawHill.

Chall, J. (1990). The reading crisis: Why poor children fall behind inreading. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Putnam, L. R. (1997). Readings on language and literacy: Essays inhonor of Jeanne S. Chall. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Why Johnny Can’t Read—And What You Can Do About It? (1955)

Rudolf Flesch

This book is included on this list simply because of its influ-ence on the attitudes and opinions of the general public related tothe teaching of beginning reading. Flesch, a noted linguist, clearlystated the primary purpose of his book when he said, “The teach-ing of reading—all over the United States, in all the schools, inall the textbooks—is totally wrong and flies in the face of all logicand common sense” (p. 2). While this attack on the teaching ofreading was certainly not the first, nor the last, it is most notable in

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220 R. Robinson

the degree and extent of its notoriety in shaping national discus-sion on literacy instruction. Despite the fact that Flesch’s “solution”to what he considered ill-advised pedagogy was described as being“simplistic and naı̈ve” by many educators, his writing had signifi-cant effect on the literacy curriculum in many schools.

Other work by Rudolf Flesch:

Flesch, R. (1951). The art of clear thinking. New York: Harper & Row.Flesch, R. (1956). Teaching Johnny to read. New York: Harper & Row.Flesch, R. (1981).Why Johnny still can’t read: A new look at the scandal

of our schools. New York: Harper & Row.

Reading: A Psycholinguistic Guessing Game (1967)

Kenneth Goodman

This is the first of a series of articles and books by KennethGoodman that were destined to change literacy theory and prac-tices. The philosophy of whole language and the assessment tech-niques associated with miscue analysis can trace their initial rootsto this early article. Teachers who are interested in whole languagewould do well to begin their reading with this particular article andthen proceed to other materials by this influential literacy author.

Other work by Kenneth Goodman:

Goodman, K. (1982). Language and literacy: The selected writings ofKenneth S. Goodman. Boston: Routledge & Kegan.

Goodman, K. (1986). What’s whole in whole language? Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.

Goodman, K. (1989). The Whole Language Evaluation Book.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Goodman, K. (1993). Phonics phacts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading (2007)

Arthur Heilman, Timothy Blair & William H. Rupley

This volume is included here because it is an excellent rep-resentative of current literacy textbooks in the field. Of particularnote is the emphasis placed in this book on the importance of abalanced view of the literacy process by the classroom teacher. Textmaterial gives particular attention to the roles of the educator asthe instructional leader in class.

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