Young readers depend on adults to provide access to a variety of materials representing diverse perspectives and providing information about topics of interest and importance to them. The decisions of literacy professionals to include or exclude a book from a lesson or a collection have far-reaching implications for the kinds of ideas,…

Teachers of beginning readers have choices in the books they select. A careful look at the features of books provides an informed basis for choosing books that engage young readers. In this article we share insights from a comparative content analysis of leveled readers and Geisel award books that can motivate children to read and prepare them for…

In this paper, we highlight how restorying with preservice secondary English language arts teachers can encourage them to explore what is possible with mandated texts, like those found in the canon, for diverse world building centered in empathy, self-exploration, and justice. Findings highlight the critical reflective process preservice teachers…

The importance of selecting one's own texts to read has been well documented as it relates to student reading motivation, reading volume, and overall reading attitude. However, elementary students state that having trouble selecting a book is the number one reason they do not read more. The lack of students' ability to effectively implement text…

Now in a revised and expanded third edition, this important resource helps teachers understand how good readers comprehend text and how best to support students who are struggling. It presents effective instructional methods for learners at all grade levels, including those with reading disabilities. Every chapter translates state-of-the-art…

This article discusses young women's reading practices and the social uses of literature for enabling gender equality that are present in those practices. Through a digital ethnography study where six young women collaborated as participants, I asked the data: How is literature, precisely its capacity to be used, conceived by young women readers…

This case study explores the integration of children's literature in science education, with a focus on engaging preservice teachers in a science methods course to select, locate, design, and implement the integration of children's literature in their instructional practices. Sixty-four elementary preservice teachers in an initial teacher…

This multiple-methods two-part study included a collection analysis of the holdings of trans books in 35 randomly selected public high school libraries in one state in the southeastern United States. Also, the attitudes and practices of 37 high school librarians (in the same state but not necessarily at the same schools whose collections were…

This large-scale survey study examined how teachers select and integrate global and culturally diverse children's and young adult literature for their classrooms. Results from the survey captured self-reports of the selection process, suggesting if and how teachers were selecting and integrating this literature and reflecting possible influence…

Teachers' choices as they select texts have long been explored and considered by researchers. However, within such scholarship, there is limited research about how teachers, particularly Black women teachers, navigate the gauntlet of whitewashed standards, hegemonic curriculs, and dehumanizing school spaces to select texts that affirm students and…

Purpose: This study aims to explore and highlight how a secondary English teacher's commitment to nonviolence was maintained through gentle and purposeful resistance to the subtle violence of her school's curriculum practices. Design/methodology/approach: Data from this qualitative study was examined with attention to the slow violence of…

Teachers often use books as part of their efforts to share critical information with students and to influence their attitudes. The authors define bibliotherapy, discuss why they believe they should teach lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) themes in elementary classrooms, outline procedures to identify appropriate books, and…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of Flipgrid-based discussion activities with student-selected nonfiction texts on middle school students' motivation to read. The study investigated how teacher training affected teachers' comfort and confidence in using Flipgrid. While various discussion-based activities have been used with…

This article contributes to research on equity in award-winning and honor books by offering a paratextual analysis of 14 immigration-themed young adult books that were included on the USBBY Outstanding International Books list between 2006 and 2019. Findings reveal that paratexts--all parts of a book excluding the narrative--frame authors who are…

In the 21st century, amidst the widespread adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, many elementary teachers find it challenging to consistently incorporate science instruction. Although the research literature indicates that using science-based content in the literacy block has the potential to improve student achievement in both areas,…