Drawing on the latest research about toddlers and preschoolers, At a Loss for Words lays out the importance of getting parents, policy makers, and child care providers to recognize the role of early literacy skills in reducing the achievement gap that begins before three years of age. Readers are guided through home and classroom settings that promote language, contrasting them with the "merely mediocre" settings in which more and more young children spend increasing amounts of time. Language skills are the key to school and life success, and acquiring them requires a level of input and practice that too many of our young children are not getting. Drawing upon an extensive body of research, the book demonstrates how we can build the community supports and public systems that our children need so that toddlers learn the power of language and how parents and teachers can support it.