Determines the relationship between attitude and reading behavior in adults. Finds that adults with positive attitudes toward reading spend more time in daily reading and read a wider variety of materials than do adults with negative attitudes. (MG)

Relates how a child's love of Yoko Kawashima Watkins's book, <IT>So Far from the Bamboo Grove <RO>led to a friendship with Watkins. Considers the repercussions of this friendship on the child's reading motivation and development. (MM)

Discusses bibliographical and historical methods for discovering popular reading habits of past communities and presents a case study of the popular reading habits in Ulster between 1700 and 1900. Collectors of popular literature are discussed, and a definition of popular literature is suggested. (14 references) (LRW)

Studies eight students (grades five-nine) to discover whether students with less than average interest in reading would spend a greater amount of time engaged in interactive fiction. Finds that students spend more time with interactive fiction, if they are successful at the quest. Discusses implications for English and reading instruction. (MM)

Describes an English teacher's successful "guided independent reading" program for reluctant adolescent readers. She teaches her classes around large themes, chooses mirroring student interests, allows in-class reading periods, and monitors student progress. Students then work in groups to present their book to the rest of the class.…

Describes how reading for pleasure for 20 minutes of each class period in a beginning, intermediate-level reading course for adults in English as a Second Language resulted in language development in terms of reading, writing, and comprehension, as well as increased confidence. (SR)

Finds that adult listeners to tape recordings of books are highly educated people who do a great deal of professional and recreational reading and who listen to books on tape for information and enjoyment while they are engaged in activities that require little concentration. (SR)

Argues that, if teachers want to see real writing improvement with their students, they must become advocates of free voluntary reading. Describes improvements the author has seen in his students, and lists some suggested titles for a classroom library collection. (SR)

Asserts that most modern reading theories take the position that to relax the will while reading is to either become a mere consumer or to submit to the tyranny of other minds. Discusses the nature of pleasure in reading, and argues that self-loss in reading can sometimes be a necessary prologue to self-empowerment. (PRA)

Discussion of adolescent readers and adolescent literature focuses on adult books for adolescent readers. Topics include historical views; promoting free reading for teenagers; nonfiction, biographies, and interviews with real teens; and the need for lists of appropriate and popular adult books for teenagers. (LRW)

Considers the relationship between hobbies and hobby-related reading to evaluate a common instructional assumption about using hobbies as a basis for recommending reading. Supports: (1) the potential for recommending authentic, non-traditional hobby-related reading materials in home and instructional settings; and (2) the potential for tapping the…

This article offers a strategy for helping students to choose material they can read during sustained silent reading periods in school and independently at home. The rubric considers the following readability factors: vocabulary, sentence complexity, topic and concepts, clarity of ideas, level of abstraction, organization, design and format,…

This study examined the effects of students access to print through public library card ownership and class trips to the community library. Reading performance, attitudes toward reading, time spent reading at home, number of books at home, and family visits to the public library after school were compared between students who had library cards,…

A study was conducted, as a means to encourage literacy beyond "book reading" that stressed the importance of taking into account the range of literacy events that exist in people's lives everyday. It was found that literacy learning could take place within the everyday context of living, and that these events can reveal the kinds of mental…

Once again, this column has been inspired by a recent discussion amongst teacher-librarians. The topic, as it often is, focused on getting kids to read for pleasure when there are so many other choices. This article offers some simple suggestions that school librarians can use to get kids to choose to read over other activities.