Fox, Fonics & the Magic of Reading
For those who live outside Australia, I would like to tell you that Mem Fox is a national treasure in her own country.
We fell in love with her when she published her first book, Possum Magic, and it has continued ever since. Mem burst into the news with the rise of Mark Latham 
to the leadership of the Federal ALP and his adoption of her views on reading and by his reading to children in schools. Recently, Andrew Denton interviewed her on Enough Rope and the transcript of that is here. Literacy is a controversial issue in this country - and I would be surprised if it was not in other countries around the globe. At the core of this is how reading is taught. This debate tos and fros and in the middle of it pops up the topic of phonics.
Mem had a recent opinion article in The Sydney Morning Herald which, to me, seems to put phonics in its place. She points out in a convincing manner that phonics has nothing to do with reading - but everything to do with writing.
So make up your own mind - and, if you want to join in the Great Debate on literacy and phonics, don’t be shy. Have your say here. After all, it’s all about reading and books and magic - even Possum Magic!
