This article draws on Philip Barnard's model of the interactions between theory and practice, between basic and applied research, to investigate the paradox of reading as an experience both private and public. It uses internal reader experience as a starting point for exploration, evoking the concept of a readerly sense of presence as a selection…

In a time of significant change, it can be useful to explore what remains constant in literate behaviours. This article follows Oatley's suggestion that looking at the psychological function of a literate event is more productive than worrying about the analogue/digital divide. Starting with the activity of learning to read, it investigates…

Children learn to read at approximately the same stage in life as they start to master their physical environment. This article argues that some of the same mapping and schema-building strategies inform each activity, and draws on examples from a broad range of children's books to support the idea that reading fiction and mapping one's local…

Reminds readers that looking at individual authors rather than dealing in generalizations is a very meaningful approach to increasing an understanding of how reading works by making sense of the text. Discusses how Agatha Christie's writing follows very predictable patterns and may provide useful experiences for novice readers. (MG)

Explores questions of paratext and spin-off text through an investigation of web sites and other forms of satellite texts relating to three series of novels for young people: the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling, "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman, and the Disc-world novels of Terry Pratchett. (SG)

Looks at implications of children meeting stories and storybook characters not only through books and videos but through anything from toys and games to pajamas. (RS)

Reading is invisible. Any report of another's reading (beyond the level of word recognition) must rely on some kind of reproduction of the actual experience; there is no way to tap into the experience itself. After completing a pilot study, a small number of adolescents--5 eighth graders and 5 eleventh graders read the first four chapters of…