A study was conducted to analyze the content of stories in several basal reading systems widely used in primary grade reading instruction. The investigation was in terms of the relative frequency of main characters who are elderly, the portrayal of elderly characters in relation to other characters in the stories, the incidence of aging themes, and incidental references to aging or the elderly--as well as a question on non-human and human characters. Two hundred ninety-eight stories were analyzed using the primary grade (K-3) reading instructional materials of two different textbook publishers. Results showed that (l) the elderly do not appear as primary characters in stories to any great degree, (2) most elderly human characters were portrayed in a positive manner, (3) a higher percentage of elderly non-human characters are portrayed as negative, and (4) more negative than positive statements about the elderly appear in the stories, while the opposite is true about the young and adults. Conclusions point to the fact that far too few elderly appear as primary characters in basal reader stories and, when they do appear, far too many negative statements are made about them. (Tables of data and a two-page reference list are included.) (NKA)