Two studies focused on children's reading but employed very different procedures and techniques. The first study examined the link between the levels of children's reading comprehension and the quantity of reading they did. Subjects, 198 children chosen at random from years 5, 6, and 7 of a single elementary school in Adelaide, Australia, completed questionnaires, kept diaries of leisure time activities, and were tested for reading comprehension and verbal ability. Results indicated that the hours subjects spent reading were positively and significantly correlated with reading comprehension. Positive and significant correlations were also obtained for the possession of books, selection skills, a wide use of sources, and the habit of returning to known authors. The aim of the second study was to establish what South Australian children read in the 19th century and to explore the nature of their reading materials. Reading materials available to South Australian children in the colonial period were read and analyzed. Results indicated that: (1) children in colonial South Australia were immersed in the literature produced for their British cousins; and (2) the reading materials were designed to shape the moral and social development of the young. Findings of these two different research projects on children's reading highlight the values and limitations of different research methods and the necessity of conducting a range of studies in order to create a broad understanding of this complex and important topic. (Twenty references, the survey instrument, and blank diary forms are attached.) (RS)