Using an anthropological approach to folklore, the article views children's development of fictional narratives as performances that accentuate prosody. When viewed as performance, the meaning of stories is seen to be not just in the underlying structures, but also in the social and cultural contexts of the story. (Author/DB)

The article explores the development of children's understanding of causality, its effect on narrative development and organization; and the development of intentional, goal directed behavior. (Author/DB)

The years when a young child's language skills are "exploding" are the years between three and five. What can make a dramatic difference in a child's life is if parents take a few minutes a day to read to him or her. Reading to a child helps him or her become a successful reader. The child develops a sense of phonics and learns that stories have a…

Describes and provides examples of how storytelling can help develop children's language ability. Argues that the goal is not to teach children language but to create an environment that will allow language learning to occur naturally. (SRT)

Reading to young children offers them many benefits including a sense of security which comes from physical closeness to an adult. In addition, the child perceives the format of print, begins to assimilate the basics of story construction, develops a prior knowledge base which is an essential ingredient of comprehension, and receives the message…