Drawing on data associated with an investigation of classroom read alouds and discussions of children's literature, this article conceptualizes the reading aloud and discussions of picturebooks as an "interpretive space" for elementary grade students' exploration of visual images and written text. Analyzing the types of responses…

This article explores young readers' fascination with particular authors. It begins with a brief analysis of the contents of fifth graders' letters to their favorite authors. It then juxtaposes their range of responses with the varying perspectives that teachers typically adopt when designing an author study, advocating a model of author study…