Previous studies on emergent literacy have shown that since young children learn a lot about writing and reading before they attend school, teachers can build on this knowledge in an integrated instructional program. But just how reading and writing are intertwined in the learning process has not been clearly defined. This study investigated the progress of the writing and reading of 18 children in an inner-city school in order to identify common strategies and to compare their use across the tasks as they approximate writing and reading behaviors through kindergarten and grade 1. Within an environment conducive to language learning the children were asked to read and write in any way they could. The findings showed that children initially explored the mechanics of written language in their strategies in the reading of storybooks. But in the context of storybook reading they developed composing strategies which later appeared in their writing. In other words, writing and reading supported each other with a transfer of strategies occurring in both directions. (Thirty references and five figures are included, and an appendix enumerating principles which nurture literacy is attached.) (JK)