A case study of a young boy's learning to read and write from the beginnings of literacy at age 5 up to age 11, after reading and writing have converged, is the focus of this book. The first part of the book, a description of his learning to write, discusses invented spelling, research about other young spellers and writers, the shift toward conventional spelling, and the development of the writer in the third and fourth grades; and summarizes the child's writing development during five years of the study, and the implications of the study for writing and spelling instruction. The next part of the book first traces his reading development from a recognition of stories and short words to short and continuous texts, and then deals with his enjoyment of reading and his progress in silent reading, vocabulary development, and reading diversification. This section concludes with a summary of the child's reading development and the implications of the study for reading instruction. The last part explains the converging of his writing and reading skills and deals with the relationships between writing and reading in his development. The book concludes with a discussion of learning to read and write as forms of development, or broad patterns of growth. (EL)