Analyzes the relationship between amount of time devoted to leisure reading by Irish elementary school children and a series of personal, home, and school variables. Reports that reading consumed 5.4 percent of available leisure time and that the variables considered accounted for only 22.9 percent of the variation in time in book reading. (MKM)

Diaries showing how 920 Irish fifth graders spent their leisure time on three designated days within one week augmented data about the children's personal, school, and home characteristics to aid in determining the primary factors related to the amount and type of leisure time reading. The children reported spending a median time of 60 minutes per…