Book excerpt: Unlike oral communication, reading is not an automatic or naturally acquired skill, and children do not learn to read in the same manner as they learn to speak. Reading requires that children be able to process letter sounds visually. There is a definite connection between reading and spelling, but the skills needed for spelling are more complex than the skills needed for reading or oral communication. Spelling goes a step further and requires that children be able to process phonetic sounds and apply them to letter symbols in order to form visual-phonological connections that can be reconstructed in oral and/or written form. This book presents and discusses topical data on spelling skills.