Reflects on childhood memories of reading a number of books by Leo Edwards and Margaret Pedler. (EL)

Analyzes the plot structure of the 61 most popular picture books on the 1982 "Children's Choices" list and discusses interesting trends found in the list. (FL)

Annotates the 97 titles chosen by more than 2,500 children as the best of the trade books published in 1982. Arranges the titles into categories according to reading level and offers suggestions for using the books in and out of the classroom. (FL)

Argues that reading materials should fit the criteria of relevance, interest, and usefulness if children are to get maximum benefits from reading instruction. (FL)

Presents brief annotations of 40 children's books originating or published in countries around the world, some of them traditional tales, and all of them dealing with universals of childhood, such as delights, friendship, fantasy, individual identity, and contemporary living. (SR)

Notes that modern rewriters transform traditional folk stories for reading texts, adhering to strictures imposed by popular ideas about childhood, language, and learning. Proposes to improve the quality of folktales and learning by restoring original language in folktales. (FL)

Reviews ERIC materials pertaining to the reading interests of children. (FL)

Argues that children have much to gain and little to lose from an increase in the number of female main characters in stories, from increased portrayal of nonstereotyped role models in stories, and from the use of female-inclusive language in reading materials. (Author/MP)

Suggests that Natalie Babbitt's "Tuck Everlasting" narrows the gap between "untroubled, sterile" children's literature and adult literature by avoiding simple dichotomies while presenting life as a complex mixture of good and evil, containing perplexing moral dilemmas. (JC)

Concludes that many third- and fifth-grade students in Oklahoma have not read many of the Newbery Award-winning books. (FL)

Examines the social perspectives presented by a sample of the Children's Choices books to determine if the protagonists' behavior is primarily individualistic or shows concern for the group or community. Concludes that the books tended to espouse the self as the focus for activity. (FL)

Notes that F.H. Anstey's children's novel "Vice Versa" is unusual for its day (1882) because it attacks Victorian fathers and insensitive boarding school teachers, and points out how cruel children can be to one another when maintaining their own power structures. (JC)

Reveals (1) some sex differences in children's reading preferences, but indicates some overlap; (2) that minority and nonminority children differed to some extent in their preferences, but had more similarities than differences; and (3) that children's reading interests have changed little in two decades. (FL)

Suggests that the figure of the bear (and animals in general) in children's literature is a pleasing one to children, and helps them learn to love their instinctive, natural selves. (JC)

Notes that the African oral tradition of storytelling is giving way to an expansion of published works for children. (JC)