Hamilton (teacher education and curriculum studies, U. of Massachusetts Amherst) and Schwanenflugel (educational psychology, linguistics, and cognitive science, U. of Georgia, Athens) detail a program for early childhood educators to teach vocabulary and oral language skills to preschool and kindergarten students to build a strong foundation for reading. They introduce their program and its research basis; recommend practices for reading books and supporting diverse learners; give tips, strategies, and classroom examples for teaching vocabulary; and provide 24 vocabulary units that focus on social studies and science terms and a CD-ROM with picture cards, word lists, checklists, student tracking and assessment tools, and sample letters to parents. There is no index. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)