Everyone knows how important it is to read to young children--but it is the "quality" of shared reading that really affects emergent literacy. How well are adults engaging and teaching children as they read together? How well are children listening and responding? The first and only tool to measure the quality of adult and child interactions…

The newborn is amazingly equipped to acquire language and literacy--these early years are the foundation upon which later learning is built. Drawing on current research, the authors of this book examine the elements of beginning language and literacy and look at how families, programs, and communities can encourage beginning language and literacy…

Noting that an examination of play from diverse perspectives deepens understanding and opens up new avenues for research and educational practice, this book brings together studies, research syntheses, and critical commentaries that examine play-literacy relationships from cognitive, ecological, and cultural perspectives. Each set of chapters is…