Jim Jump - Unifon Test Program Series

Description: Whitman Tell-A-Tale books are always adorable but this edition of “Jim Jump” is not one that most people (or collectors) have ever seen. It was written as part of “The Unifon Test Program Series” with a copyright of 1964 by the Peppermint Press, Inc., assumably to teach children how to read using the Unifon alphabet. Like the more standard copy of “Jim Jump” it was written by Betty Ren Wright and illustrated by Sharon Banigan, but it has the Unifon characters overlayed on the text making it appear very different than the edition most children had in their libraries. Additional differences include: the first Whitman Publishing edition has a copyright of 1955 the Unifon copy 1964, the regular edition is unpaginated and the Unifon series has numbered pages, the regular edition lists other Tell-A-Tale books on the rear cover and this edition has the Unifon – The New Single Sound Alphabet on the rear board. In the 1950’s the Bendix Corporation was commissioned to develop a universal phonemic code for International Air Services but as a result of a tragic air crash and immediate demand for quick communication in the air, English was adopted as the universal language among pilots and ground control. The contract with Bendix was cancelled and the Unifon alphabet being developed by John R. Malone, a Chicago economist and newspaper equipment consultant, was no longer required. Unifon is a Latin-based phonemic orthography for American English that like a pronunciation key in a dictionary attempts to match each of the sounds of spoken English with a single symbol, though not all sounds are distinguished. After the contract was cancelled Malone used his newly developed alphabet to teach his young son to read in one afternoon, recognizing the valuable tool for teaching children to read. The method was tested in Chicago, Indianapolis and elsewhere during the 1960’s and 1970’s, but no statistical analysis of the outcome was ever published in an academic journal. Interest by educators has been limited, but a community of enthusiasts continue to publicize the method and advocate for its adoption. Betty Ren Wright (1927 – 2013) was the chief editor for Western Publishing for over 30 years where many of her over thirty-five picture books were published, although she may well be remembered more for her “Dollhouse Murders” and ghost stories.

Price: 210 USD

Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

End Time: 2025-01-16T12:25:27.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD