Graphic novels in the K-12 classroom are most often used to motivate marginalized readers because of the lower text load and assumption of easy reading. This assumption has thus far been unexplored by reading research. This qualitative multiple-case study utilized think-aloud protocols in a new attention-mapping activity to better understand how…

Finds that children in a culturally diverse first-grade classroom sorted 15 picture books into piles of books having similar characteristics, classifying books by topic, genre, author, culture, emotional response, and physical property of the book. Discusses how some aspects of children's classification systems were similar to the teacher's way of…

Examines and describes the intertextual connections made by young children in several primary classrooms in order to identify (1) the interpretive moves afforded by these connections, and (2) how these connections developed the children's literary understanding. Outlines some approaches to the topic of intertextuality and relative research. Draws…

Discusses children's pictures termed "visual manifold narratives" (picture books that develop more than one narrative line by including two or more sets of separate pictures on the page). Discusses some uses of the manifold narrative, the reader's role in constructing meaning, subversion of the linear narrative, the metafictionality of manifold…

Examines one "Teachers as Readers" group, in which teachers meet to read and discuss children's literature. Finds that (1) reading can be defined as making meaning from picture book illustrations; (2) collaboration can be defined as listening to students; and (3) readers respond differently to books based on the beliefs and values they…

Presents a case study chronicling the written, oral, and fine art responses of four transitional readers and writers (second- and third-grade students) to the picture books of Patricia Polacco and Gerald McDermott. Discusses their responses in three categories: descriptive responses, interpretive responses, and thematic trends. (SR)

Describes a study that investigated whether the structure of the materials children encounter and the abilities and experiences they bring to the act of reading affect the ease with which they comprehend the text. (FL)

The assumption that readers understand best and respond most positively to writing and illustrations which reflect their own first-hand experience was tested. To elicit response from children, four books by Byrd Baylor were used in three classes of fifth graders, in urban, suburban, and rural schools. After the books were read and the pictures…

Sixteen experienced teachers of reading, from a large, northeastern, American university, were asked how, in their elementary classrooms, they would approach the story of Cinderella. This was done in an attempt to find out what conception teachers might have about the way texts could themselves teach children to negotiate meaning, how teachers saw…

Explores the nature of the picture story book event from a semiotic perspective. Describes a classroom event in which a picture story book was constructed during teacher-student-text interaction in a second grade classroom using involving oral reading and discussion, interpretations of the main character's traits, letters to the author, and…

Investigating the extent to which reading to children and book type affect kindergartners' ability to recall, write about, and read the text that their teacher has just read to them, a study examined the effects that the story reading techniques of six kindergarten teachers had on 52 of their students during three book reading sessions. On three…

Drawing upon data from a series of studies, this paper analyzes children's verbalizations about a wordless picture book to discover any relationships between a child's learning style and his or her comprehension of events in the book. Using the definitions of learning style established by M. Rosenberg, the paper also compares the behavior of…