Offers reflections (by Nicholasa Mohr, writer of children's, young adult, and adult literature) upon how she learned to read and how reading gave her a sense of freedom, as well as pride in her own Puerto Rican heritage, in spite of the nonacceptance and contempt she experienced in school. (SR)

Considers how CD-ROMs, electronic storybooks, and related technology may offer distinctive experiences with literature and various pathways of support for young children's traditional literacy development in the elementary school classroom. Discusses three potential advantages of electronic storybooks, offering examples of their classroom use, and…

Offers children's answers to the question, "Why do we listen to stories?" Explores what a group of second graders had to say about literature, imagination, and the place of stories in their own lives. Discusses the role of literature in unleashing imagination, helping humans see the big picture, and how "knowing the old helps us make the new." (SR)

Argues that stories help children change into the adults they will become. Notes that the current trend toward easy books may result in the loss of story. Discusses changes over 35 years of children's publishing, focusing on technology, paperback publishing, young adult novels, horror series, authorship issues, censorship, pop culture, and…

Shares the experiences of a class of eleventh grade readers involved in a classroom research project and their understanding of the act of reading. Discusses reading as both a solitary and a group activity. (MS)

Argues that reading of just any kind is not enough to stave off the effects of television. Contends that the reading must involve quality books, rather than mass-marketed, instantly gratifying books geared to the lowest common denominator. (JK)

Discusses six books for teachers and educators that consider what makes reading attractive and even irresistible. Notes the books deal with author studies and elementary school students, broadening student response (to reading) to include art and music, a project approach to the classics, using computers to teach literature, effective school media…

Refutes the sequential, building-block theory of cultural literacy which advocates mastery of a prescribed body of cultural knowledge. Argues that teachers must help students find joyful encounters with words which will knock their socks off and inspire them both to search for understanding and to reach for another book. (SR)

Examines the reading experiences of six African-American middle school girls. Finds that their book selection processes were different than those proposed by the professional multicultural education literature; they found affirmations, support, solutions, and decision-making skills in their reading; and that what mattered were the connections the…

Offers a classroom vignette that describes how the author invites students to collect pearls of wisdom (memorable quotations in books) as a source of inspiration. Offers an example of such a quote that stimulated rich discussion in a sixth-grade classroom. (SR)

Describes how the parents of the author's fifth-grade students joined the literature circles in her classroom--either in person, through writing, or through recorded conversations. Notes that the literature discussions became richer and more sophisticated as families added layers of meaning to the context built in class. (SR)

Describes an extraordinary experience teaching comprehension strategies to fourth-grade reluctant readers through literature study. Notes how the experience was a fusion of three critical elements: an extraordinary group experience, a text that taught itself, and an instructional model that met the students' needs. (SR)

Discusses six books (published in 1997 or 1998) for educators that deal with teaching young adolescents and teaching with literature. (SR)