Discusses Rudine Sims Bishop's allegory of "window and mirrors" in relation to multicultural children's literature. Notes that Sims insists that children need to be involved with literature which not only allows them to see through the window to the world around them, but also to see themselves mirrored in the texts with which they come…

Discusses what will affect the literature for the children for the future, changes that have already occurred that will carry into the next century, and multicultural literature. (RS)

Examines the nature of engagement with informational text by exploring four gifted students' responses to children's information books and informational storybooks. Indicates that these children expressed a variety of reasons for reading non-fiction and held interesting perceptions and strong opinions about informational content. Finds that…

Explores the relationship between responses to literature and the complex world views of four bicultural students, three Asian American and one of Jewish and European descent. The focal literary work of the study was the cross-cultural text, "Homesick," by Jean Fritz. Participants were interviewed about their experiences with the text. (Author/VWL)

Explores how child readers in Australia and Germany responded to Randolph Stow's "Midnite." Reports on responses from taped interviews conducted in each country, examining both child and adult responses to the ironic humor of the work. (MG)

Interviews elementary children about their fiction writing to gain a glimpse into how writing teachers might improve their teaching. Found the following three features in students' growing knowledge of characters: characters can elicit readers' empathy, can change the attitude of the readers, and can have a mind of their own. (MG)

An interview method for assessing reading processes was pilot tested to examine reader-text interaction among native-Spanish-speaking fifth graders. Subjects were active participants in the reading situation but were lacking in aspects related to the text's cultural content. The reading interview method is highly recommended for use in…