Examines research of the past six years that deals with teaching literature to children. (Author)

Notes that the terms "interest" and "preference" are often used interchangeably in reading research. Points out that both the sources and uses of data are clearer when the differences in the two terms are emphasized. (FL)

Concludes that branched stories, which involve the reader actively in a story, can produce better attitudes toward reading on the part of elementary school students than stories from basal readers. (FL)

Describes how paperback books can be used to motivate children to read and to appreciate literature. Provides a suggested booklist. (MKM)

Describes a reading scheme involving classroom use of books the children chose themselves. (HOD)

Discusses the dangers of censorship, children's right to read a variety of types of books, and the importance of children's books in which authors express their personal world view rather than deliberately writing for children. (GT)

Seven hundred sixty-one children in 32 classrooms of two metropolitan school districts in southeastern Wisconsin took part in a survey which was conducted to provide information on children's preferences in magazines. (MP)

The article spotlights the outstanding accomplishments of a remedial reading teacher, whose conviction that children could learn that reading could be fun led her to use storytelling as a jumping-off point for building literacy based on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (CB)

Discusses a survey of 22 well-known writers' reading habits: how they read; why they read (reading to know, reading to learn craft, technique, and style); and what they read. Suggests that students would be well-served by learning to read like writers, developing in-event and post-reading observations. (SR)

Suggests that the increasingly popular genre of informational storybooks can "turn students on" to independent learning from text. Notes that these storybooks, such as the Magic School Bus books, present and explain a nonfiction topic in a storybook format. Poses four questions as a framework for examining some of the key issues that…

Presents strategies to help elementary teachers encourage their students to read by matching students with books that contain the right balance of supports and challenges. The four strategies are: getting to know the books, making initial matches, determining reading level, and redirecting students based on findings. (SM)

Finds a generalizable pattern that is learned and followed by most children when they select books. Suggests that refinements and elaborations are best demonstrated by "outlier" behaviors atypical to the basic book-selection routine. Shows children typically select books based upon the physical characteristics of the book and a holistic,…

Presents an interview with Glenna Sloan, winner of the 2001 Arbuthnot Award. Discusses what triggered the writing of her "watershed" book "The Child as Critic"; experiences that helped her become a good listener; her experiences as a teacher; and what she sees as the future of children's 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…