7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! »

SUSAN ZIMMERMAN is the cofounder of Denver's Public Education and Business Coalition. She lives in Denver.

CHRYSE HUTCHINS is a reading consultant and a staff developer for Denver's Public Education and Business Coalition. She lives in Denver.

It's simple: If children don't understand what they read, they will never embrace reading. And that limits what they can learn while in school. This fact frightens parents, worries teachers, and ultimately hurts children.

7 Keys to Comprehension is the result of cutting-edge research. It gives parents and teachers—those who aren't already using this valuable program—practical, thoughtful advice about the seven simple thinking strategies that proficient readers use:

• Connecting reading to their background knowledge
• Creating sensory images
• Asking questions
• Drawing inferences
• Determining what's important
• Synthesizing ideas
• Solving problems

Easily understood, easily applied, and proven successful, this essential educational tool helps parents and teachers to turn reading into a fun and rewarding adventure.