A ethnographic study examined the ways a young child's mind grasps the idea of the written word. The 5-year-old subject, called "Craig" in this article, had an unending thirst for print, read at the second grade level, and had fluent speech and vocabulary. Craig was followed over the previous 8-month period from the time he first gained manual dexterity with the use of a writing instrument through his present development with invented spelling strategies. His artwork and writing samples were collected from daycare, preschool, and home settings. His progress in written language can be documented through his development in the following areas: (1) graphic formation of upper and lower case letters; (2) graphic formation of numbers; (3) use of appropriate directionality in writing words; (4) appropriate spacing of letters and words; (5) use of initial and final consonants in invented spelling; (6) representation of many sounds and surface features in words; (7) use of visual memory; and (8) beginning development of standard spelling. Findings suggest that spelling is developmental and that the invented spelling process results from children's natural encounters with print. (RS)