The pattern of errors of second grade pupils in reading isolated words was analyzed, particularly with respect to reversals of letter sequence and letter orientation. These occurred in significant quantity only among the poorer readers in the class. The two types of reversals were uncorrelated and, therefore, cannot reflect a single process. Sequence reversals were more closely related to other kinds of reading errors than were orientation reversals. The linguistic context as well as optical reversibility of letters is a determinant of confusions in letter orientation. Reading ability assessed by the analytic test composed of isolated words was highly correlated with reading proficiency on a conventional paragraphs test. This suggests that the problems of the beginning reader have more to do with word construction than with strategies for scanning connected text. (Author)