She believes government plans to teach children to read even earlier, at pre-school, are a mistake.
The government insists children are starting school at the best time, and says early years learning involves play-based as well as formal learning.
Ministers are striving to improve reading standards across all age groups.
Dr Katz, a professor of education at the University of Illinois in the USA, thinks policy makers are pushing children too hard too early.
Most youngsters in the UK start learning to read and write in reception when they start primary school - often before their fifth birthday.
In Scandinavian countries formal teaching begins much later, usually when children are six or seven.
Dr Katz, who was addressing an international conference on foundation-stage learning at the University of Oxford, said there was a danger that the British model could put children off reading for life if pupils were forced to learn before they were ready.
