I've just started using this book with my son and it has been wonderful. We're making progress without having to put up with daily fits about doing reading.  If you're having problems doing reading with your child, I encourage you to take a look at this book.

The first six chapters of the book provides the background information you need to teach your child to read.  The author describes hurdles to reading, strategies for dealing with them, and provides useful examples of what the adult-child interaction might sound like. The chapters are well organized and to the point, each ending with a short summary of "Information to Remember."  Chapter six provides a test to determine your child's "rescue reading level."  Wilber ends the chapter with the following, "It's not uncommon to have a ten-year-old begin on Level 1.  The information is user-friendly for both older and younger children.  Get yourself a cup of tea, some paper and a pencil, and begin teaching your child reading skills to last a lifetime."  Yes, there is hope for my soon to be nine-year-old yet!

The rest of the book is devoted to the strategies and schedules for the different level readers.  Each level includes a worksheet, not for the child, but for the adult to track progress and skills.  This is not a worksheet book!  Appendix A addresses connecting sounds to letters with short cartoon stories and recommended books for practicing specific letters.  Appendix B contains a Reading Rescue Book list for the different levels.

I started my son at the end of Level 1.  We spent just five minutes on some of the activities which left him wanting more.  He had a lot of fun rearranging words in sentences--it's amazing how they almost always ended up with mom being attacked by a pokemon.  The best part has been the homemade books.  He doesn't bother illustrating the books but he loves dictating the story and reading them. He's especially into serialization.  We have "The Elecmon and Soccer" parts one through five.  It certainly has made it easier to find books he likes to read.

I can't emphasize enough how much this book has changed my approach to reading and improved my son's reading ability and attitude. If you are only going to buy one book on reading, Reading Rescue should be a top contender.