Why did the Y disappear? It was a question I posed to my Advanced Placement Psychology class many years ago, as we were studying the blind spot in the retina. The “Y” on my students’ papers literally disappeared, and as they stared in amazement at the simple trick, I let out a laugh at the silly-sounding question I had just posed. “That would make an excellent children’s book,” I said to the class. It was not until I had two children of my own that I decided to make the book idea a reality. 

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As a father of two, a teacher, and having received my Doctor of Education from Johns Hopkins University, specializing in mind, brain, and education, I have a tremendous appreciation for the impact children’s books have on children’s developing literacy skills.  Research suggests that reading to one’s children is a contributing factor to their later literacy (Baron & Brunello, 2000; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998, 2001). Building on that tradition, I believe I wrote a book that utilizes the latest neurocognitive research to enhance foundational literacy skills.  The book, Why Did the Y Disappear? Was part of the rotation of books my wife and I read nightly to our two boys, Charlie and Teddy,  when they were young. I believe all children could receive the same educational benefits my children received from the book Why Did the Y Disappear? as it captured their attention and enhanced the early skills needed to become excellent readers and writers. 

According to Wolf (2008), the root of literacy is the understanding that words are created by a finite number of sounds that are represented by letters. Those letters enter the brain through the retinas and reach the visual cortex, which discerns the shapes, angles, and contours of the letters on the page. Then, the angular gyrus must integrate visual information with auditory information to associate the phonemes with the shapes. Therefore, the ability of a child to name letters is one of the most reliable predictors of later reading development (Biemiller, 1977; Wolf, 2008). As you will see in the book and its accompanying illustrations, it emphasizes the connection between letters and their names, providing several strategies to help learners associate the two. One method is to present words that sound the same as the letter and are familiar to the children. Among the many examples beyond the title is when the letter “P” has to go pee pee in the potty; a task typically learned around the age of three and thus familiar to most young children. 

Another cognitive strategy for literacy, developed by the Ancient Greeks, involves teaching students with standard letters in a fixed order (Havelock, 1976; Wolf, 2008). The classic A, B, C song is the most common method for English speakers to learn the alphabet. However, learning the song is an auditory task, and it is, therefore, missing a crucial component of reading, which is how the sounds of the letters connect to their shapes on the page. The book, Why Did the Y Disappear?, helps children with this conversion as it not only includes the alphabet as the major storyline but also connects the various phonemes of each letter to the graphemes with memorable visual images. 

Phonetic awareness is one of the best predictors of later reading achievement (Burhanpurkar & Barron, 1997; Bus & Ijzendoorn, 1999). Thus, the teaching of phonics has become the hallmark of most successful reading programs. The story of Why Did the Y Disappear? includes many examples of the letters using their phonemes in various ways such as the “D” that hums da, da, de de, do do. As the young child hears the book, they begin to associate the phonemes with the name and sight of the letter in the accompanying image. 

The final instructional aspect of the book, the semantic, syntactic, and morphological word play, is not fully understood by pre-readers or beginning readers. However, readers who moved on to chapter books without pictures still engage with Why Did the Y Disappear? because they can now fully appreciate that “B” is a letter, a morpheme “be,” and also two different words, “be” and “bee.” This example is just one of many from the book that demonstrate how the English language is full of unique rules of syntax and semantics (Wolf, 2008). The book highlights the tricky rules for pre-readers and young readers, making them consciously aware for more developed readers. 

Early literacy is of significant importance to life outcomes (Wolf, Gottwald, Breazeal, Galyean, and Morris, 2017).  and therefore, it is important that all children experience high quality picture books. I believe Why Did the Y Disappear? enhances the young brain’s necessary connections for literacy with a picture book that grabs kids’ attention and builds upon the neurocognitive research. I have read the book to various preschools and kindergarten classes and the audience is always engaged, laughing, responding, and cheering throughout.

            I hope you enjoy the book.

References

Biemiller, A. (1977).  Relationship between oral reading rate for letters, words, and simple text development of reading achievement.  Reading Research Quarterly, 13, pp. 223-253.

Burhanpurkar, A., Barron, R., (1997). Origins of Phonological Awareness Skill in Pre-Readers: Roles of Language, Memory, and Proto-Literacy. Paper presented at Society for Research in Child Development meeting, Washington, DC.

Bus, A., Ijzendoorn, M., (1999).  Phonological awareness and early reading:  A Metanalysis of experimental training studies.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(3), pp. 403-414.

Fritjters, J., Barron, R., & Brunello, M. (2000). Child interest and home literacy as sources of literacy experience: Direct and mediated influences on letter name and sounds knowledge and oral vocabulary. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(3), 466–477.

Havelock, E. (1976). Origins of Western Literacy. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (1998).  Child development and emergent literacy.  Child Development, 69(3), pp. 848-872.

Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (2001). Emergent Literacy: Development from Prereaders to Readers. New York: Guilford.

Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid: The story and science of the reading brain. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Wolf, M., Gottwald, S., Breazeal, C., Galyean, T., & Morris, R. (2017). Children and Sustainable Development (pp. 225–238). springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47130-3_17