THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIFFICULTY OF READING MATERIAL CHOSEN AND ATTITUDE TOWARD READING WAS EXAMINED. SUBJECTS WERE 40 SECOND GRADERS. ONE-HALF OF THE SUBJECTS EXHIBTED A FAVORABLE ATTITUDE TOWARD READING, AND ONE-HALF EXHIBITED AN UNFAVORABLE ATTITUDE. THE ACTIVITY PREFERENCE TEST WAS ADAPTED FOR THE STUDY AND ADMINISTERED. AN INTERVIEW, AN INFORMAL READING INVENTORY, AND A SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF THE PREFERENCE TEST PROVIDED ADDITIONAL DATA. CORRELATION AND THE KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST WERE USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. CHILDREN IN BOTH THE FAVORABLE AND UNFAVORABLE ATTITUDE GROUPS CHOSE MATERIAL BELOW THEIR INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL FOR FREE READING MATERIAL. AS A GROUP, THE SUBJECTS WITH FAVORABLE ATTITUDES WERE NOT BETTER READERS THAN THOSE WITH UNFAVORABLE ATTITUDES. EVIDENTLY, THE DIFFICULTY OF THE MATERIALS DID NOT APPEAR TO BE A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN DETERMINING THEIR ATTITUDE. THE SUBJECTS CHOSE EASIER MATERIALS WHETHER THEY REPORTED CONSIDERING DIFFICULTY OF MATERIAL OR NOT. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND AN APPENDIX ARE INCLUDED. (BK)