This second edition focuses on helping the preservice teacher become an "Influential Reading Teacher," one whom students remember years later as a special teacher and person. The ideas and teaching strategies in the book actively involve preservice teachers in understanding and thinking about children's reading and writing development. New to this edition are "Influential Reading Teacher" practices and strategies that are integrated throughout the chapters and are denoted by a special marginal icon, and "Strategies in Use" which features that model teaching strategies in authentic contexts by presenting real-life transcripts or teaching scripts of interactions between influential teachers and their students. Chapters in the book are (1) Becoming an Influential Literacy Teacher; (2) Understanding Meaning Making and the Reading and Writing Process; (3) Understanding Early Reading and Writing Development; (4) Using Instructional Strategies to Develop Reading Comprehension; (5) Building Vocabulary and Comprehension Connections; (6) Building Word Analysis Strategies and Skills; (7) Using Literature and Reader Response to Enhance Motivation and Comprehension; (8) Developing Children's Reading and Writing in Content Areas; (9) Understanding Language and Cultural Diversity and Special Needs; (10) Evaluating Children's Progress in Literacy Development; (11) Examining Instructional Approaches to Literacy Learning; and (12) Continuing Your Professional Growth as an Influential Teacher. Contains approximately 500 general references and approximately 400 children's literature references; appendixes contain lists of Newbery Medal books and Caldecott Medal books. (RS)