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)

"In an age when browsing the net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMSs seem to be the order of the day, reading a book in a peaceful corner of a library has become an archaic idea for most people. While technology is slowly taking a steady control over individual lives, the reading habit is fast vanishing into thin…

This study explored girls' and boys' (aged 10-11) attitudes towards reading and writing. Girls enjoyed reading significantly more than boys. Boys liked mostly comics and humorous books; adventure books were girls' favourites. Poetry did not appeal to pupils. Many boys did not enjoy typical school texts. Most pupils, especially boys, did not like…

Examines three aspects of reading considered to be important in the development of an individual's skills, citing content, interest, and social role in this literature review on factors affecting reading performance. (RB)

Discusses the theme of survival prevalent in many children's books and presents a bibliography of 60 titles listing survival stories of several major types. (TO)

Presents examples from Ezra Jack Keat's "The Snowy Day" to illustrate how children's picture books can teach teachers what curriculum guides may not. (TO)

ALTHOUGH MANY FACTORS LEAD STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY THE CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED, TO AVOID READING, AMONG THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REASONS ARE AN ABHORRENCE OF THE KINDS OF READINGS CONTAINED IN THEIR ENGLISH ANTHOLOGIES, AND THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE BOOKS. IF THE SCHOOLS ARE TO ENCOURAGE READING AS A BROADENING EXPERIENCE, THEY MUST…

Although many factors lead students, particularly the culturally disadvantaged, to avoid reading, among the most significant reasons are an abhorrence of the kinds of readings contained in their English anthologies, and the physical characteristics of these books. If the schools are to encourage reading as a broadening experience, they must…

As a response to the close of the 1972 International Book Year sponsored by UNESCO, this study was suggested concerning the reading habits of people throughout the world. A concern was expressed that without reading practice reading skills already learned would be quickly lost and life-long education would not take place. The author surveyed…

Recognizing the relationship between interests and tastes that exists in the reading selection process, studies concerning either interests or tastes or a combination of both are included in this bibliography. However, taste as an inherent factor in the selection process was rarely treated in the research. The major concern was an emphasis on…

One of the problems found in present readability formulas is the lack of control for syntax, other than sentence length. Judging the complexity of a sentence based on word count alone does not allow for such circumstances as: coordinate clauses joined by "and"; deletions; passive forms; and coordinate clauses, dependent clauses, and…

The purpose of this study was to discover the images of child-adult relationships that are being portrayed in picture-storybooks for children in the primary grades. One hundred picture-storybooks were selected for analysis. Fifty picture-storybooks were selected from recommended book lists and fifty were hand-picked from the shelves of a public…

Examines whether "social reading" can facilitate literary engagement. Indicates that social readers made a greater attempt to convey meaning than did nonsocial readers, but were less engaged with the text as literary discourse. (SKC)

Recounts the experiences of a bookseller in dealing with children's books, including what strategies increase sales, how mothers and fathers choose children's books differently, and giving book talks at parents' nights at preschool schools. (NKA)