In Print: ‘Children’s Literacy Development: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Learning to Read and Write’

Publication title

Children’s Literacy Development: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Learning to Read and Write

Purdue author

Catherine McBride

Publisher

Routledge

Publication date

July 16, 2025

About the book (from the publisher)

In the updated third edition of this unique book, Catherine McBride looks at reading and writing development and impairment across a range of languages, scripts and contexts. This new edition highlights multiliteracy and multilingualism and broadly explores the science of reading.

A timely and important contribution to our understanding of literacy around the world, the book includes a new chapter covering the impact of digital technology on children’s literacy development, and covers other issues including:

• The importance of phonological sensitivity for learning to read and to write
• The first units, or building blocks, of literacy learning in different scripts such as Chinese, English, Korean Hangul, Hindi and Arabic
• The role of visual processing in reading and writing skills
• How the latest research can inform the teaching of reading and writing
• An overview of dyslexia and dysgraphia, including recent neuroscientific research
• The developmental process of becoming biliterate
• What is special about writing for beginners and later for comprehensive writing
• Basics of reading comprehension

Written by an eminent scholar in the field, it provides an overview of how children learn to read and write and is essential reading for students and scholars of developmental psychology, educational psychology, psycholinguistics and speech therapy.

About the Purdue author

Catherine McBride is the Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Science and the associate dean for research in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Her work focuses primarily on reading and writing across cultures, and her areas of expertise include literacy development and impairment, mathematics development and impairment, and parenting. McBride has served on the Scientific Advisory Board for the International Dyslexia Association and the Publications Committee for the Society for Research in Child Development.

About the In Print series

To celebrate our faculty’s excellence in scholarship, Purdue Today’s weekly book series highlights faculty expertise across diverse subjects and disciplines. Find out more about the Purdue University Books Initiative and how to suggest a book for the In Print series on the Office of the Provost website.