Book Talk

How do small children learn language when they talk through a story with their classmates? This book examines that question, looking at how young readers build meaning together from texts that reflect their own experiences and passions. It draws on the authors' work as classroom teachers and researchers, including years of leading and watching read-aloud sessions with students from many backgrounds.

The book works as a hands-on handbook for running discussion-based read-alouds that encourage sustained thinking and help literacy skills develop naturally. It walks through arranging the reading corner, choosing titles, getting materials ready, deciding what to aim for, and weaving discussion into the required curriculum. Throughout, the emphasis stays on children's own voices, with attention to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

The volume connects research on how children learn to read with the everyday realities of teaching in 21st-century preschool and primary classrooms, serving PreK through Grade 2 educators.