Product reviews for Literacy

Sometime columnist for this very magazine, Phil Beadle is in his element here because say what you like about him (go on, he'd love it), the man knows how language works. Words are his passion and he understands the subtle art of using them to convince, cajole and above all, clarify; even if subtlety is not, as a rule, his favoured rhetorical style. Not so much an enfant terrible as, well, terribly (or rather, gleefully) childish at times, Beadle also grasps the point so often missed by other writers on this subject; that literacy cannot be separated from politics, and that teaching young people how to express themselves effectively is one of the most powerful and exciting ways educators can help to change the world for the better. Yes, he over-swears and over-shares; but who cares? This book Is full of stuff you didn't know you didn't know. Read it- and the odds are pretty good that by the end you'll be a better teacher of literacy then before you picked it up.