Seidenberg - 2017;2018;

In Language at the Speed of Sight, [Seidenberg] develops a careful argument, backed by decades of research, to show that the only responsible way to teach children to read well is to build up their abilities to connect reading with speech and then to amplify these connections through practice, developing skillful behavioral patterns hand in hand with the neurological networks that undergird them. Every teacher of young children as well as those who train them should read this book.

Wall Street Journal

An important and alarming new book. Seidenberg makes a strong case for how brain science can help the teaching profession

New York Times

Seidenberg unravels the science of reading with great flair. He is the ideal guideand it turns out that we need a guide to reading, even though weve been doing it most of our lives.

Washington Post

Seidenberg reviews the latest science on reading and makes an impassioned plea for putting this knowledge to use.

Scientific American

Cognitive neuroscientist Seidenberg digs deep into the science of reading to reveal the ways human beings learn how to read and process language. Seidenbergs analysis is backed up by numerous studies and table[s] of data. His approach is pragmatic, myth-destroying, and rooted in scienceand his writing makes for powerful reading.

Publishers Weekly

The neuroscience underlying [Seidenbergs] findings is complex, of course, but [he] does not often fall into thickets of technicality his discussions are clear and accessible. A worthy primer on the science of comprehending language.

Kirkus Reviews

No technologically advanced society exists without reading. This is the remarkable story of why and how it all works. From David Lettermans irony to posited Sumerian patent trolls, the writing is lively, informative, and supremely entertaining.

Daniel J. Levitin, bestselling author of This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind

Have you picked up the idea that reading is something that kids just pick up and shouldnt be rushed into, or that learning to read is something different from comprehension, or that a whole book about reading would be dull? Language at the Speed of Sight will disabuse you of all three notions and morepick it up and marvel at how hard it will be to put it down.

John McWhorter, author of Word on the Move and Talking Back, Talking Black

Few works of science ever achieve Italo Calvinos six qualities of our best writing: Lightness, exactitude, visibility, quickness, multiplicity, and consistency. Mark Seidenbergs new book achieves just that. If every educator, parent, and policy maker would read and heed the content of this book, the rates of functional illiteracy, with all their destructive sequelae, would be significantly reduced.

Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid

A world-renowned expert explains the science of reading with clarity and witanyone who loves to read will be fascinated, and teachers will absolutely devour this book.

Daniel Willingham, author of Why Dont Students Like School?

Language at the Speed of Sight is an incisive tour through the fascinating science of reading. From cuneiform to dyslexia to the future of literacy, Seidenberg is a master guide wholucky for usis as gifted a writer as he is a scientist.

Benjamin Bergen, author of What the F

For Maryellen

With deepest [love, admiration, and gratitude].

For Claudia and Ethan

Fun. Food. Family.

And for showing me what I didnt know about reading, and the rest.

Look closely at the letters. Can you see, entering (stage right), then floating full, then heading offso soonhow like a little kohl-rimmed moon o plots her course from b to d

as y, unanswered, knocks at the stage door? Looked at too long, words fail, phase out. Ask, now that body shines no longer, by what light you learn these lines and what the b and d stood for. b o d y

JAMES MERRILL