Reading Development and Difficulties Kate Cain Reading is a complex activity that involves a range of skills in order to access meaning via the printed word. Reading Development and Difficulties demonstrates that there are two aspects to a child becoming a skilled reader: the development of good word reading skills and the ability to extract the overall meaning of a text. This book provides a comprehensive and balanced introduction to the development of these two core aspects of reading. In addition, the author examines the specific problems that underlie reading difficulties with a detailed review of two populations: children with developmental dyslexia, and children with poor reading comprehension. The final chapters focus on instruction and intervention, and the assessment of reading for educational, research, and diagnostic purposes. • Unique in its balanced coverage of both word reading and reading comprehension development, this book is an essential resource for undergraduates studying literacy acquisition. • Offers wide coverage of the subject and discusses both typical development and the development of difficulties in reading. • Accessibly written for students and professionals with no previous background in reading development or reading difficulties. Kate Cain, D.Phil., is a Reader in the Department of Psychology at Lancaster University. Her research focuses on the development of language comprehension in children and she has a particular interest in the cognitive and language–related skill deficits that lead to comprehension problems. To date, she has published widely on language and reading development in journals such as Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, and Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, and has written 15 book chapters and co-edited Children′s Comprehension Problems in Oral and Written Language: a Cognitive Perspective (with Jane Oakhill, 2007). She is Associate Editor for the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders and the Journal of Research in Reading.