Poor Little Sick Boy The basic pattern followed in Poor Little Sick Boy and other Easy Speedy Readers® presents the text in NuSpel first, then in OldSpell with pronuciation guides in NuSpel, and finally in OldSpell. An effort is made to enliven every text with illustrations which also help learners to readily grasp and retain meanings. Additionally these afford opportunities for interaction through questions and comments based on them. 1. An estimated 40 million Americans above age 15 are functional illiterates. Our children are compelled to misspend years acquiring reading skills that ought to be totally‹utterly‹simple and easy to learn. Years that should be devoted instead to other crucial, vital, exciting, enriching studies and pursuits. The major culprit: our spelling system (NOT!) 2. Space-Age/Computer-Age technology greatly simplifies and facilitates the conversion of texts of all kinds to NuSpel as well as its promotion and acceptance. 3. Dr. J. Donald Bowen of The Foreign Service Institute has employed an i.t.a. approach successfully to enable foreigners to overcome our appalling spelling roadblock to learning English. Strenuous, innovative efforts to help foreigners and no comparable exertion in behalf of our own struggling, precious children? 4. Caring, concerned, effective interaction between learners, teachers and parents is an essential key to success. Appropriate materials should emphasize this. (A beginning reader that goes all out to accomplish this: The Training Wheels Alphabet Book.) 5. Children are fascinated by language and are as open to stimulating novelty as the most imaginative and creative of adults. 6. To adults some of the new NuSpel letters may seem odd, but to the young all the letters are equally fresh and new. Learning Russian, as just one example, requires mastering a whole new alphabet. By contrast, learning a few additional NuSpel letters is a snap. 7. At first sight, with OldSpel there is no sure way to determine by 'phonics' how an English word is pronounced. Shoes and toes, lose and hose, not to mention calliope, psoriasis, etc., etc. are just a few among innumerable proofs of this. 8. A teacher or tutor cannot always be standing by to confirm, encourage and help, nor is it feasible to expect children to apply complex rules and remember unpredictable exceptions that baffle, confuse and deter adults. 9. With NuSpel it is not only possible but very simple and easy to represent the whole gamut of English sounds and their combinations‹not possible while some of them remain orphans without letters of their own‹as in azure, luge, Zsa Zsa, rouge, pleasure, etc. 10. Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein have recently joined to-gether to reform the spelling of German, a process expected to be irreversible possibly by 2010. Even without reform, their system is far, far superior to our non-system, but they want to do every single thing in their power‹right down to perfecting the last jot and tittle‹to facilitate efficient, rapid, painless acquisition of reading and writing skills for their precious little ones. Are we so much less caring, concerned and capable?