A Teacher's Story

Published by Fraser Books, Masterton, 2004, 178 pages. Fading to spine, slight yellowing at page edges, otherwise good secondhand copy.

The autobiography - strongly laced with her philosophies about the teaching of reading and stories from the classroom - of a well-loved, long-time teacher who, frustrated with the Janet and John readers, wrote her own and, with Joy Cowley, a highly successful series of readers that breathed fresh life into the teaching of reading in New Zealand schools. At a time when there is continuing debate about the phonetics and whole word teaching methods, A Teacher's Life provides a wise and absorbing perspective on the teacher's role and its importance.