ABSTRACT
Scarcely more than a decade ago, it was widely agreed that children could not and should not learn to read before the age of six. In most of the countries of Europe this is the age fixed for the entry into ‘big school’ and the age at which formal literacy teaching begins. However this last decade has shown us that the acquisition of literacy is not a straightforward rite of passage into the institutional world of school, but a long and complex process that begins early, when very young children, who are far more capable than we used to believe, begin, in the world of the family and the immediate environment, to understand and express themselves through the written word. This process continues to develop and to play a significant role throughout the longue durée of education.
