City Literacies: Learning to read across generations and cultures (Literacies)

The book City Literacy's attempts to take a look at what happens when a child learns to read. The book also discusses different situations that a person learns to read in, whether it is formal or informal.

The main purpose of this book was to prove three myths wrong. The first myth is that being of a low economic level, does not mean low literacy levels. The second is that early reading success does not matter when it comes to your overall reading ability. The final myth is that parents do not have to speak English at home for their children to have a high literacy level. Throughout this book the authors present a great deal of information. Most of the information is presented through interviews. The interviews consist of people that are reflecting on how they learned to read. Also, all of the people interviewed are from different parts of London. Through these interviews we are able to see the different types of learning styles, along with the different methods children learned to speak in different areas, and centuries. For example, some learned to read English through Jewish club, and through the library, while others learned through reading with their mother. We also learned reasons behind some of the students going to school to learn to read English. "Norma's mother sent her to elocution lessons so that she could erase any trace of Cockney accent from her speech" (p. 88). Through out this book we are able to see literacy through the individual's eyes, and not mere interpretations.

There is one main assumption that the authors rely on through out the book. This assumption is that he reader believes in the importance of being able to read, and teaching others to read. The authors also has the assumption that the reader knows how to read and has memories of learning to read. The purpose of this assumption is that the reader is able to relate to the different events that the people who were interviewed in the book speak about.