Word frequency was determined for library books that primary-grade children selected for free reading. A survey of librarians determined which books these children selected. This list was reduced to 80 books through evaluations by elementary school teachers. A computer analysis of each word in these books revealed 105,280 running words. When…

A practicum was designed to motivate first-grade students in a rural community in the southeastern United States to read independently for pleasure in the classroom and at home. A whole language program was implemented which did not include the use of basal readers or workbooks. Children's literature was the primary source used for reading…

Several points need to be addressed when selecting humorous books for children. First, people of all ages react to humor in different ways; therefore, what one child finds funny another may not. Care must therefore be taken in sharing books with and recommending books for children. Second, humor itself is difficult to define, but humor should…

The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the general interests and the reading interests of pupils in first grade through third grade and (2) to investigate teachers' skills in interpreting interest data and in choosing literature for children. The sample consisted of 521 pupils and 18 teachers. Reading interests of the children were…

Studies the views of parents and teachers on how they might effectively support independent readers. Examines children's views on parental involvement. Finds that the survey heightened interest in reading and literature among children and their parents. (MG)

Seeking to foster in children a love of books and reading, this 3-week curriculum module is designed to encourage third graders to read independently and to develop an awareness of the intrinsic value of reading by helping students acquire those library skills necessary to access literature, setting up strategies for students to use to assess…

This list of over 200 books for retarded readers was compiled to fill the need for books which would be acceptable and interesting to older children reading at primary-grade levels of difficulty. Having been evaluated objectively by the Spache Readability Formula and subjectively by retarded readers in a reading clinic and in classrooms, the books…

Suggesting that every child has the right to know first-hand the power and possibility that comes from being a literate individual, this textbook offers prekindergarten through primary education preservice teachers the opportunity to participate in the thinking and decision making that face teachers of young children. Selected theoretical…

This book is the product of a collaborative partnership between the two authors to develop a year-long literary/literacy program for first grade children based on bridging learning in the library and the classroom. Some of the objectives of the program described in the book are: to provide opportunities for children to experience personal…

This survey of reading material for elementary students covers over 320 books from 38 publishers, more than three-fourths published since 1957. The books reviewed were offered by their publishers as "books with stories or interesting information, with simple sentence structure, reasonably limited vocabulary, and a measure of repetition--for those…