![\"\"](\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dreamstime_xs_10025667-1.jpg\")
\u00a9Jmpaget | Dreamstime.com<\/p><\/div>
\nSure, we think of childhood reading as a safe activity, free from the kinds of dangers that might befall, say, a tiny skier or a skateboarding prodigy. But there is one danger that affects 4 out of 5 young readers whose reading abilities outstrip their\u00a0life experiences…
\n…and that is the pronunciation pitfall.
\nHow many times must a small smarty pipe up with literal soundings-out of words like “Colonel,” “intrigue,” “spatula,” and “quay” before\u00a0we\u00a0save them from themselves? How many hours of confusion must they spend debating the possible pronunciations of\u00a0puzzlers like “awry,” “misled,” and “banal” before someone cries, “Enough!” \u2014 adding to the heartbreak by pronouncing\u00a0“enough” correctly.
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dreamstime_xs_37528594-1.jpg\")
\u00a9 Yiting Liu | Dreamstime.com<\/p><\/div>
\nThe hours of shame spent over the misspent syllables of “debris” and “epitome,” “placebo” and “debut!” The family trips to Plymouth and Worcester ruined\u00a0by shaming adult laughter! How many z-buzzing “rendezvous” must they have with before we\u00a0intervene?
\nIt’s a slippery slope, my friends,\u00a0and that is why I’ve created\u00a0a system called SKSYFEF, or Smart Kids, Save Yourselves from Embarrassment Forever. It’s a\u00a0thin plastic film overlay with embedded technology that you can\u00a0place on\u00a0any book page, and just by pressing a trembling finger on a word, you can hear it pronounced.
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dreamstime_xs_50710100-1.jpg\")
\u00a9 Akvafoto2012 | Dreamstime.com<\/p><\/div>
\nFor example:
\n“No!”\u00a0SKSYFEF will\u00a0say. “You just THINK this name is pronounced FO-eeb, but it’s really FEE-bee. And, heads up, her friend in the next paragraph\u00a0has KOL-era.”
\nI think it’s going to be a big hit with those precocious 7-10-year-old reading zealots (“ZEL-ots.”)
\n***
\nBonus! If you\u00a0are amused by pronunciation humor, Dutch traveler\u00a0