Images of childhood are ideas and expectations of childhood and children, and are reflections of individual perception and cultural ideologies. In writing children's books, authors draw on their conscious and unconscious thoughts of childhood to create an implied reader. In this paper I investigate images of childhood through examination of the…

The authors examine the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP; 2008) report from two complementary vantage points: (a) the historical tradition of research syntheses in reading research, beginning with Chall and extending through the NELP report, and (b) other recent attempts to examine or synthesize early reading development. While acknowledging…

Considers how children's vocabulary develops in reading contexts. Focuses on the role of independent reading as one of the major factors influencing vocabulary growth. (AEW)

This paper describes a study designed to find out whether children's reading would be affected by line spacing that is wider or narrower than the commonly used default values. The realistic, high quality test material was set using a range of four different line spacing values, and twenty-four children in Years 1 and 2 (between five and seven…

A former eighth grade reading and writing teacher considers how her experience in a classroom workshop for readers and writers has affected her behavior with her young daughter. Emphasizes providing children with adequate time to read, choice of what to read, and opportunities to respond. (RAE)