Before Amos Oz could read the words themselves (by sounding our the letters), he learned to read by shapes! Amazingly, he saw the words in a whole new way. The "S" in "Snake" looks like a snake. Similarly the "F" in "Flag" looks like a flag on a pole. Again, an "eye" looks like a pair of eyes with the bridge of a nose between them.
"Language arts" really is an art that is poetic in sound, meaningful in thought, and even beautiful to look at--no different than a work of art by Picasso or Mozart. ;-)
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)