Have you ever tried solving a riddle in a language you cannot comprehend? No matter how you go back and forth, you will not be able to arrive even at step one of the solution. This is how reading feels like to a non-reader.

I remember my teaching stint in pre-school years back. While some of my 4–5-year-old pupils would excitedly turn the pages of their books when I say, “Please turn your books to page 10,” one of them would do nothing with the book on his table and would wait for me or his seatmate to do it for him. The pupil would also not participate in our alphabet singing and letter-writing activities. While there are other factors that I may not know of regarding this kid, his performance in our classes clearly shows that he is a non-reader.

For the context of this article, a non-reader is “one who does not or cannot read or a child who is slow in learning to read.”

How do we properly introduce materials to a non-reader? Ms. Marifi Navarro, a librarian for more than 25 years, shares her experiences and some tips on how to help non-reader children take a step towards reading and actually loving it!

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