The books are designed for beginning students who cannot read at all, and do not know the names or sounds of any letters. As the students progress through the books, the students end by reading words such as laughter, should, enough, height, auction, Epiphany, they're, and won't. It takes approximately one year to complete all five books, at the rate of two reading lessons per school day (eg. a morning lesson and an afternoon lesson). From there, the child simply needs more practice reading by reading other books. The books introduce the children to a family of five: father, mother, Victoria, Roy and Charity. The covers are illustrated in color, and the inside illustrations are black and white. The books are very Christian and very family oriented. The titles of the five books are: "I Am Happy," "We Went to Church," "Let's Read About Colors (Colours)," "I Like My Family," and "Ready to Read and Laugh."
In addition to the five reading books, an Instruction Manual explains to the teacher how to use the books. If all five books are ordered together, the Instruction Manual is included for free. If you have never taught using the two color Kahalari Reading system, you will need an instruction manual. The books are designed to be international. Some of the words and phrases in the books are American, some British, and some from other places in the Commonwealth.
There are three versions of the books. One version is for Americans, one for Canadians, and one for British and Commonwealth nations. The primary differences in the books is the use of American spellings for Americans, Canadian spellings for Canadians, British spellings for the UK and other English speaking nations. The different versions also educate children to pronounce the words appropriately for their particular English "accent." The American, Canadian, and British & Commonwealth versions of the books can be used simultaneously in the same classroom, should the teacher have a multinational class.
The books have worked very well for home school students. The books have been a tremendous subjective success. Is there any objective evidence that the books work well? Two students who used the Daddy I Want to Read books were tested by an elementary school teacher whose job it was to evaluate and place students based on their reading abilities. One home school student had just turned six years old (kindergarten/year 2) and was only part way through the Daddy I Want to Read books. He tested at a second grade level (year 4) in his reading ability. Another home school student who would have been in grade 2 (year 4) had just completed the Daddy I Want to Read books. She tested "beyond grade 4" (beyond year 6). The author finds it hard to believe that beginning reading books can teach that well, but there is the objective evidence.
An independent review of the Daddy, I Want to Read books can be read on the Cathy Duffy Reviews. A link to the review on that website is at right.
More can be read about the Daddy, I Want to Read books using the progressive links below. The books can be purchased using the bottom link, link (5).
(1) About the DADDY I WANT TO READ books (You are on this page)
(2) Where did the DADDY I WANT TO READ books come from?
(3) Who illustrated the DADDY, I WANT TO READ books?
(4) What English versions of DADDY, I WANT TO READ are available?