The first of a series providing reviews, syntheses (empirical and rhetorical), and reports of reading research, the chapters in this volume treat the question, "What does a child have to know (or be able to do) in order to learn to read?" The book begins with an in-depth logical analysis in historical perspective of the concept of reading readiness (Max Coltheart). The following chapters address the current state of the art of assessing reading readiness (Joanne R. Nurss); the relationship between early linguistic insight and reading (Linnea C. Ehri); the factors that produce precocious readers (Jane W. Torrey); the importance of the social environment in learning to read (Doris R. Entwisle); and readiness for relearning to read following brain injury (Carole Ann Wiegel-Crump). The volume concludes with a discussion by Hildred Rawson of a program of instruction in reading predicted on the concept that readiness is a continuous and cumulative process of preparing children for successive advances in cognitive development. (EL)