Children's reading for pleasure is associated with significant academic and personal benefits and is widely recognised as an effective way to leverage social change, yet in schools this is not fully capitalised upon. The authors connect extant research in this area to the seminal concepts of Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity to advance the…

New research findings are presented in this paper, responding to a significant knowledge gap about the role of pedagogy in tackling persistent educational inequalities. The paper examines the potential of reading for pleasure (RfP) pedagogy to disrupt 'pedagogy of poverty' in low socio-economic (SES) schools and to enable children to reap the…

This study, rooted in the evaluation of a reading methods course, sought to determine the implications for preservice teachers (PSTs) who participated in literature circles that intentionally used multicultural literature to discuss social justice issues. Using an interpretative mixed-methods approach, we collected quantitative surveys and…

This paper discusses the pedagogical practice of developing reading for pleasure in pre- schools and primary phase settings through the lens of one key dimension of twenty-first-century reading: personalisation. It draws on a series of studies and examples to identify, address and problematise human- and digitally mediated personalised reading for…

Beginning with the premise that pleasure is a driving force in life, this article examines the relationships between pleasure, schooling and society across the past century. Through the examination of school texts, narratives, and histories of literacy instruction, a case is made that part of the move away from keeping pleasure at the heart of…

An annotated bibliography geared toward increasing elementary school students' interests in reading briefly describes three beginning readers, four fictional works for middle and upper elementary grades, four books about folk and fairy tales, and two informational books. (CB)

A bibliography lists approximately 100 works (1974-82) of fiction, biography, poetry, fantasy/science fiction, picture books, and mystery/adventure for gifted elementary children's recreational reading. Citations include information on author, approximate grade level, and publisher. (CL)

This bibliography lists the 53 Caldecott Award winning books and the "Honor Books" for the years 1938 to 1990. The bibliography includes the author, publisher, and year of publication for each selection. (RS)

This bibliography lists the 69 Newbery Award winning books and the "Honor Books" for the years 1922 to 1990. The bibliography includes the author, publisher, and year of publication for each selection. (RS)

A school-wide reading campaign emphasized the joy of reading. (MKM)

Explores the problem of motivating children to choose books from the library, and suggests ways in which teachers can interest children in library books. (JM)

Describes 30 years of promoting the good pleasure-reading habits of 530,000 Kansas children. (JM)

Examines a young girl's abridgment of Mara Kay's novel "Masha," focusing on the selection processes she used. Suggests that text selected for the abridgment had personal significance, while less significant or negative text was omitted. Concludes that the experience gave shape and meaning to the girl's own growing up. (MM)

Describes a recreational reading program which was so successful in its first year that it became an established component in the curriculum in the second year. (JM)

Explores the problem of how children react to stories read to them in the classroom and discusses the comments of a ten-year-old boy about six novels read aloud to him. (JM)