emergent readers picture book s=selection

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Picture book selectionbehaviors of emergentreaders: Influence ofgenre, familiarity, and bookattributesClyde C. Robinson a , Jean M. Larsen a , Julia H.Haupt a & Jeannette Mohlman ba Brigham Young Universityb Salt Lake Community CollegePublished online: 28 Jan 2010.

To cite this article: Clyde C. Robinson , Jean M. Larsen , Julia H. Haupt &Jeannette Mohlman (1997) Picture book selection behaviors of emergent readers:Influence of genre, familiarity, and book attributes, Reading Research andInstruction, 36:4, 287-304, DOI: 10.1080/19388079709558245

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Reading Research and InstructionSummer 1997, 36 (4) 287-304

Picture book selection behaviors ofemergent readers: Influence of genre,

familiarity, and book attributes

Clyde C. Robinson, Jean M. Larsen, Julia H. HauptBrigham Young University

Jeannette MohlmanSalt Lake Community College

ABSTRACT

Empirical studies with school-aged children have led to assumptions thatemergent readers do not have specific reading preferences or demonstratepatterns in their book selections. This study was designed to determinewhether emergent readers demonstrate reading preferences based upongenre, familiarity and four other book attributes. Over a seven-week period,53 preschoolers and 49 kindergartners from two socioeconomic levelswere given the opportunity each school day to select a picture book totake home from a set of 40 books with equal representation in five genres.Children's familiarity with the 40 picture books was assessed through aparent survey at the beginning of the study and teachers recorded thetitles that were chosen by each child each day during the study. Children'sbook choices were analyzed by genre, familiarity and four book attributes.Findings demonstrated that emergent readers appear to demonstrate genrepreferences (both ages preferred modern and traditional fantasy over real-istic fiction, informational and alphabet-number books). Additionally, thestudy found that children select familiar books more often and that espe-cially in the case of kindergartners, familiarity influences reselection.Finally, emergent readers most frequently selected books with a simple text(one to five lines of text per page). The findings of this study counter pre-viously-held assumptions that emergent readers select books randomly orchoose them based on convenience of their display. Implications for therole of genre preferences, familiarity and book attributes are discussed.

Being literate is considered basic to a child's educational progress andachievement in school (Krashen, 1985). Reading success is also considered fun-damental to an individual's ability to function successfully in society (Dorotik &Betzold, 1992). Since literacy plays such a vital role, much research has focusedon how children become literate. A number of factors have been identified. Forexample, specific behaviors exhibited by early readers which are thought to beassociated with the acquisition of reading and writing skills include: reading

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288 Reading Research and Instruction Summer 1997 Vol.36 No. 4

familiar words (Reutzel, Oda, & Moore, 1989), copying words (Morrow, 1988),looking at picture books (Morrow, 1983), owning or borrowing books from thelibrary (Teale, 1978), asking for "favorite" picture books to be read to them byfamily members (Morrow, 1985; Sulzby, 1985) and reading interest (Guthrie,1981). Additionally, studies of early readers reveal that though they have a widerange of IQ's (Briggs & Elkind, 1978), they frequently come from educationally-advantaged homes (Teale, 1981). These early readers are reared in environmentswhere they are exposed early and frequently to reading materials (Morrow,1983), a variety of reading materials are readily available (Dickenson & Tabors,1991; Smith, 1991), reading experiences are interactive (Morrow, 1985; Teale &Sulzby, 1987), and parents routinely help their children with reading and writingactivities when they show interest (Roskos, 1988).

A central element in this array of emergent reading characteristics is thedevelopment of reading interest. Many of the provisions made by adults for earlyreaders (i.e., exposure to reading materials, interactive reading experiences andresponsiveness to children's interest in reading and writing tasks) stimulate andnurture this interest and assist emergent readers to make sense of the world of print.Indeed, many early childhood experts encourage parents and practitioners aliketo encourage the development of the disposition to read along with encouragingthe acquisition of the knowledge and skills necessary for reading (Bredekamp,1987; Katz & Chard, 1989). A favorable disposition towards literacy can be builtas adults allow children to self select picture booksyet another behavior relatedto literacy development (Morrow, 1983; Reutzel & Cooter, 1996).

The majority of studies examining the development of reading interest andreading preferences have focused on school-age children, rather than emergentreaders. Researchers attempting to uncover the determinants of reading interestamong school-age children have identified three salient factors: (a) interest in con-tent (Hiebert, Mervar, & Person, 1990), (b) difficulty of text (Anderson, Higgins,& Wurster, 1985), and (c) self-selection of reading materials (Strickland & Mor-row, 1989). The lack of empirical studies on the determinants of reading interestand reading preferences for emergent readers may be partially due to the findingsof studies conducted in the early 1970's (Chiu, 1973; Beta Upsilon Chapter of PiLambda Theta, 1974). These researchers implied that children younger than ageeight show little consistency in reading preferences or discrimination in content.However, if this assumption proves ill-founded and investigative efforts reveal read-ing preferences and book selection strategies among emergent readers, this infor-mation could ultimately assist parents and practitioners as they foster readinginterest in the children entrusted to their care.

The present study is concerned with the development of reading interest inyoung children, particularly with regard to the presence or absence of book selec-tion strategies. The study also questions the assumptions of previous researchersby investigating whether genre, familiarity and other book attributes will predict apattern of book selection and reselection for preschool and kindergarten children.

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Picture book selection 289

Extensive experience with emergent readers and anecdotal observation of selectionbehaviors on the part of the authors suggests that preschool- and kindergarten-aged children do demonstrate specific picture book preferences and use bookselection strategies. In order to test the hypothesis that emergent readers will usebook selection strategies, this study was designed to address three questions aboutbasic elements of selection criteria: First, does the genre of a picture book influ-ence emergent readers' picture book selection and reselection behavior? Second,does book familiarity make it more likely for a picture book to be chosen andreselected? Finally, do certain book attributes, such as the location of the book inthe display, the difficulty of the text or the quality of the literature affect picturebook selection and reselection?

METHOD

SubjectsThe subjects of this study consisted of 102 children from low- and middle-

class family backgrounds residing in a moderately-sized community in the Inter-mountain West. Fifty-three subjects (26 males and 27 females) were preschool-aged (4-5 years old) and 49 subjects (23 males and 26 females) were kinder-garten-aged (5-6 years old). Preschool subjects represented children enrolled intwo educational settings: a university laboratory preschool serving mostly middle-class families (24 children) and a Head Start program serving low-income chil-dren (29 children). Kindergarten subjects were likewise drawn from two con-trasting elementary schools: 30 from a low-income/Chapter I school and 19 froma middle-class neighborhood school. The majority of the children were Caucasianand came from two-parent families.

Picture Book SelectionThe picture books used in the study were selected based on a three-phase

procedure. First, a preliminary list of high quality picture books was assembledwhich included some Caldecott nominees, some titles recommended by children'sliterature experts and some books common to major vendors' lists of picturebooks that are most frequently purchased by early childhood educators. Afterdetermining the availability of multiple copies of these titles in local libraries,booklists were finalized and reduced to sets of 40 titles for each classroom. Sinceobtaining enough multiple copies of each title was difficult, books assembled forthe preschool classrooms were not identical to those for the kindergarten class-rooms.

Next, these books were placed into categories using criteria developed froma descriptive genre classification guide for children's literature at the Universityof Chicago (Sutherland, Hearne, & Sutton, 1991) and a literature index (Peter-son & Solt, 1982) which classifies books into genre. The five genres included inthe study were:

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290 Reading Research and Instruction Summer 1997 Vol. 36 No. 4

Alphabet-number books Informational books Realistic fiction Traditional fantasy (folklore) Modern fantasy

Preliminary classification of books into the five genres was conducted by a panelof four early childhood educators and final placement of each picture book into agenre category was accomplished in collaboration with a second team of children'sliterature experts. Tables 1 and 2 list the picture books used in the study and thegenre classification of the titles for the preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Finally, each book was classified on four attributes: (1) the location of the bookin the display, (2) whether or not the book was a Caldecott nominee, (3) whetherthe picture book was on a major vendor's list of books most often purchased byearly childhood educators, and (4) the level of difficulty. This fourth attributeincluded four categorizations:

no words one line or less per page/3-5 word sentences/low difficulty vocabulary five lines or less per page/5-9 word sentences/low difficulty vocabulary five lines or more per page/medium difficulty vocabulary

Treatment and Data CollectionEach of the two preschool and two kindergarten classrooms were provided

with a set of take-home picture books comprised of eight titles from each of thefive genre. Providing this quantitywhich was nearly double the number oftitles that could be selected in any one dayensured a high probability that pic-ture books would be available from each genre regardless of whether a givenchild was first or last to make a selection that day. In each classroom, the 40take-home picture books were displayed in custom-made book holders withclear plastic pockets. Each book holder was two-sided with 20 pockets on eachside (four rows by five columns). Each pocket and book was labeled with a cor-responding number. These identification numbers allowed teachers to quicklyrecord the title each child selected each day and assisted teachers and children toreturn books to the specified pocket. The designation of book position in the dis-play was randomized for each classroom, with the five genre being equally dis-tributed among the rows and columns to control for position effects. The booksremained in the same position for the duration of the study. This precaution wastaken since some investigators have speculated that emergent readers maymerely select books based upon the book's position in the display (i.e., eye level,front versus back of the display, etc.).

Data were collected over seven consecutive weeks, commencing the secondweek of October and concluding prior to the Christmas vacation. Each school dayduring the study period, each child was given approximately 10-15 minutes to

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Table 1

Classification of Titles of Picture Booksin Preschool Classrooms by Genre

ALPHABET-NUMBEREating the alphabet (1989) by L. EhlertAnno's alphabet (1974) by M. AnnoOn market street (1981) by A. LobelChicka chicka boom boom (1989) by B. Martin & J. ArchambaultTen, nine, eight (1983) by M. BangRooster's off to see the world (1972) by E. CarleCount and see (1972) by T. HobanHave you seen my duckling? (1984) by N. Tafuri

TRADITIONAL FANTASY (FOLKLORE)The mitten (1989) by J. BrettUmbrella (1958) by T. YashimaThe Little Red Hen (1985) by L. McQueenThe Ugly Duckling (1986) by H. C. AndersonDrummer Hoff '(1967) by B. EmberleyThe Three Billy Goats Gruff (1984) by E. ApplebyNibble nibble Mousekin (1962) by J. W. Angland

INFORMATIONALA tree is nice (1956) by J. M. UdryPlanting a rainbow (1988) by L. EhlertBrown bear, brown bear (1983) by B. MartinKeep looking (1989) by M. E. SelsamPatrick's dinosaurs (1983) by C. CarrickMouse paint (1989) by E. S. WalshIs it red? Is it yellow? Is it blue? (1978) by T. HobanThe truck book (1978) by H. McNaughtAnimals in summer (1988) by M. Mayer

REALISTIC FICTIONMadeline (1967) by L. BemelmansOwl moon (1987) by J. YolenThe snowy day (1962) by E. J. KeatsHappy birthday, Sam (1978) by P. HutchinsWill I have a friend? (1967) by M. CohenPeter's chair (1967) by E. J. KeatsIs anyone home? (1985) by R. MarisMop top (1955) by D. Freeman

MODERN FANTASYA pocket for Corduroy (1978) by D. FreemanThe runaway bunny (1972) by M. W. BrownGoodnight moon (1947) by M. W. BrownThe little engine that could (1976) by W. PiperCaps for sale (1968) by E. SlobodkinaHarry the dirty dog (1956) by G. ZionThere's a nightmare in my closet (1968) by M. MayerJamberry (1983) by B. Degen

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Table 2

Classification of Titles of Picture Booksin Kindergarten Classrooms by Genre

ALPHABET-NUMBEREating the alphabet (1989) by L. EhlertAnna's alphabet (1974) by M. AnnoOn market street (1981) by A. LobelChicka chicka boom boom (1989) by B. Martin & J. ArchambaultTen, nine, eight (1983) by M. BangRooster's off to see the world (1972) by E. CarleCount and see (1972) by T. HobanOne little elephant (1987) by C. West

TRADITIONAL FANTASY (FOLKLORE)Tiki Tiki Tembo (1968) by A. MoselThe story of Ping (1961) by M. Flack & K. WieseStone soup (1968) by A. McGovemGoldilocks and the Three Bears (1987) by J. BrettLittle Red Riding Hood (1982) by M. HMertRumpelstiltskin (1990) by A. SageRapunzel (1982) by B. RoganskyThe snow child (1978) by F. Littledale

INFORMATIONALBugs (1987) by N. W. Parker & J. R. WrightBrown bear, brown bear (1983) by B. MartinChickens aren 't the only ones (1981) by R. HellerBaby animals (1989) by M. W. BrownListen to the rain (1988) by B. Martin & J. ArchambaultThe little lamb (1977) by J. DunnKeep looking (1989) by M. E. SelsamDinosaurs (1981) by M. L. Clark

REALISTIC FICTIONWhistle for Willie (1964) by E. J. KeatsBest friends (1971) by M. CohenWild wild sunflower child Anna (1987) by N. W. CarlstromBlueberries for Sal (1976) by R. McCloskeyIra sleeps over (1972) by B. WaberI dance in my red pajamas (1982) by E. T. HurdThe doorbell rang (1986) by P. Hutchins/ was so mad (1974) by N. Simon

MODERN FANTASYBedtime for Francis (1960) by R. HobanAre you my mother? (1960) by P. D. EastmanCurious George (1941) by H. A. ReyNoisy Nora (1973) by R. WellsRosie's walk (1968) by P. HutchinsIf you give a mouse a cookie (1985) by L. J. NumeroffClifford's family (1985) by N. BridwellJust go to bed (1983) by M. Mayer

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select a single picture book from the set of 40 to take home in a personalizedcanvas bag. Teachers were instructed to allow children to make their own selec-tions and to respect their choice if they did not want to take a book home. Thechildren returned their books the next school day. After the selection opportunityeach day, the display containing the remaining unselected books was removedfrom the classroom, so that additional browsing of these titles did not occur.Also, teachers were asked not to read any of the 40 titles to the children duringthe study period since it would confound the familiarity variable of the study.

AssessmentTo assess the impact of picture book familiarity, genre and book attributes on

emergent readers' book selection behaviors, three measures were used: parent sur-veys, teacher recordings and classroom observations. At the outset of the study, asurvey listing the 40 take-home books in the classroom collection was distributedto parents of the subjects to determine the familiarity of each child with the studytitles. Parents were asked to indicate if their child: (1) owned the picture book,(2) had previously read the picture book, or (3) was not familiar with the picturebook. In order to determine whether selection preferences were influenced by genreand/or book attributes, teachers were given a recording chart which included thelist of children in their class and provided space to write the number of the bookchosen by each child for each day of the study period. In addition, observationswere made of selection procedures by one of the investigators during the second,fourth and sixth weeks of the study to insure that processes were uniform acrossclassrooms and to note anecdotal subjective reflections about the subjects' be-haviors while participating in the book selection process.

RESULTS

As discussed previously, few empirical studies have addressed emergentreaders' preferences for books and strategies they may use in selecting books.Therefore, it was deemed important to conduct several preliminary analyses ofvariance regarding differences based on gender and socioeconomic status. Thus,several 2 (males, females) x 2 (low-income, middle-class) analyses of variance(ANOVAs) were calculated, revealing no significant main effects nor interac-tions for either gender or socioeconomic background on the book selectionstrategies of the subjects. Therefore, these factors were not included in subse-quent analyses.

Frequency of Title Selection/ReselectionPreliminary analyses revealed that over the seven-week period, an average

of 88% of the subjects selected a picture book each day to take home, a mean of23.7 total titles per subject. Of those, a mean of 4.45 titles per subject were rese-lected at least once. A significant difference in the frequency of reselection

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[((100) = 2.31, p


Table 3

Mean Proportions of Total Titles Selected and Times Reselectedfor Preschool and Kindergarten Subjects by Genrea

DependentVariables

Total Titles SelectedX

SD .28

Times ReselectedX

SD .61

Alphabet-Number

16.4%.32

(A A A)

16.1%.77

(A A A)

Information

18.3%.28

(BB)

18.9%.61

(AB)

Genre

RealisticFiction

17.8%.32

15.8%.78(B)

TraditionalFantasy

21.9%.33

21.7%.83

ModernFantasy

24.8%

26.5%

"Means not sharing a letter are significantly different (p < .05), Duncan's Test.

the total selection/reselection pattern for preschool-aged children, Table 5 showsthat 10 individual titles were significantly more popular with kindergarten girls thanboys while no individual titles were significantly more popular with boys thanwith girls. Unlike an even distribution of title preferences for preschool children,kindergarten girls expressed a definite liking and/or boys a definite disliking for25% of the titles available.

Subjective classroom observations also informally confirmed the hypothesisthat emergent readers demonstrate book preferences and selection strategiesand that these abilities improve with experience and over time. At first, it wascommon to see many children make their selection immediately, while otherswalked around the book display looking at the picture books while making littlephysical contact with the books. As the study progressed, a considerable numberof subjects were observed to take more care in the selection process (e.g., chil-dren were observed looking at the front and back of books, perusing the illustra-tions and examining several books before making a final selection).

Influence of Familiarity on Book Selection/ReselectionTo investigate the impact of familiarity on emergent readers' book selection/

reselection behaviors, a series of t tests were conducted using the mean proportionof titles selected at least once and the mean proportion of titles reselected at least

once for preschoolers and kindergartners separately (since the booklists variedbetween these two groups). Two of the familiarity categories on the parent survey

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Table 4

Ranking of Picture Books Selected inPreschool Classrooms by Gender^

Rank Title

123456789

10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940

Caps for SaleHarry the Dirty DogThere's a Nightmare in My ClosetA Pocket for CorduroyNibble Nibble MousekinThe Little Red HenAnimals in SummerKeep LookingJamberryEating the AlphabetThe MittenThe Little Engine That CouldChicka Chicka Boom BoomUgly DucklingPlanting a RainbowBrown Bear Brown BearRooster's Off to See the WorldPatrick's DinosaursMadelineThe Snowy DayThree Billy Goats GruffWill I Have a Friend?Mouse PaintUmbrellaA Tree is NiceHave You Seen My Duckling?Is Anyone Home?Owl MoonGoodnight MoonThe Truck BookDrummer HoffMop TopThe Runaway BunnyIs it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue?Anno's AlphabetTen Nine EightPeter's ChairOn Market StreetHappy Birthday SamCount and See

Genre

Mod. FantasyMod. FantasyMod. FantasyMod. FantasyTrad. FantasyTrad. FantasyInformationalInformationalMod. FantasyAlphabet-No.Trad. FantasyMod. FantasyAlphabet-No.Trad. FantasyInformationalInformationalAlphabet-No.InformationalRealistic Fie.Realistic Fie.Trad. FantasyRealistic Fie.InformationalTrad. FantasyInformationalAlphabet-No.Realistic Fie.Realistic Fie.Mod. FantasyInformationalTrad. FantasyRealistic Fie.Mod. FantasyInformationalAlphabet-No.Alphabet-No.Realistic Fie.Alphabet-No.Realistic Fie.Alphabet-No.

Boys

19192413*30*1621221619211810*1318171724*1214167*

1413161510141020*1211139

129

11693

Girls

28221727*10*2317152116131624*201515146*

18161321*131411111611153*

10118

129

118

1050

Total

4741414040393837373534343433333231303030292827272726262525232222212121201916143

P


Table 5

Ranking of Picture Books Selected inKindergarten Classrooms by Gender^

Rank Title

123456789

10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940

Goldilocks and the Three BearsAre You My Mother?Eating the AlphabetChickens Aren't the Only OnesIf You Give a Mouse a CookieCurious GeorgeIra Sleeps OverBest FriendsI Dance in My Red PajamasWhistle for WillieRosie's WalkDinosaursChicka Chicka Boom BoomRooster's Off to See the WorldSnow ChildRumpelstiltskinI Was So MadThe LambLittle Red Riding HoodListen to the RainNoisy NoraBrown Bear Brown BearOn Market StreetStone SoupThe Story of PingSnowy DayRapunzelTen, Nine, EightTiki Tiki TemboAnno's AlphabetKeep LookingOne Little ElephantBedtime for FrancisClifford's FamilyWild Wild Sunflower Child AnnaBlueberries for SalBugsCount and SeeBaby AnimalsJust Go to Bed

Genre

Trad. FantasyMod. FantasyAlphabet-No.InformationalMod. FantasyMod.FantasyRealistic Fie.Realistic Fie.Realistic Fie.Realistic Fie.Realistic Fie.InformationalAlphabet-No.Alphabet-No.Trad. FantasyTrad. FantasyRealistic Fie.InformationalTrad. FantasyAlphabet-No.Mod. FantasyInformationalAlphabet-No.Trad. FantasyTrad. FantasyRealistic Fie.Trad. FantasyAlphabet-No.Trad. FantasyAlphabet-No.InformationalAlphabet-No.Mod. FantasyMod. FantasyRealistic Fie.Realistic Fie.InformationalAlphabet-No.InformationalMod. Fantasy

Boys

21241919192422171315222015146*

151410*8*7*

1014159*

1119

4*

1117151296*95*

116844

Girls

251923222217141922201213181926*171821*22*23*20161520*181023*159

10131518*1315*47475

Total

4643424141413636353534333333323232313030303030292929272626252424242220151312119

P


were collapsed and compared to the third category, resulting in two categories:(1) exposed to/owned title previous to the study and (2) unfamiliar with the titleprevious to the study. Overall, parent questionnaires indicated that preschoolerswere familiar with 31% and kindergartners were familiar with 43% of the titlesplaced in their classrooms prior to the commencement of the study. For titleselection, preschoolers chose 62% of the familiar titles and 34% of the unfamil-iar titles [f(1324) = 9.96, p < .000] and kindergartners chose 57% of the familiartitles and 36% of the unfamiliar titles, also resulting in a significant difference0(1246) = 7.12, p < .000]. For title reselection, preschoolers selected 13% of thefamiliar titles at least once and only 4% of the unfamiliar titles [/(1324) = 6.06,p < .000], while kindergartners selected 19% of the familiar titles at least onceand only 7% of the unfamiliar titles 0(1246) = 6.18, p < .000].

Since both genre and familiarity had a significant impact upon emergentreaders' picture book selection behaviors, the relationship between familiarity andgenre was examined in a 2 (familiarity) x 5 (genre) ANOVA. Results using titlesselected as the dependent measure reveal that for preschoolers, there is a maineffect for familiarity, a main effect for genre and a significant interaction, F(4,1316) = 2.55, p = .038. Means of the proportion of titles selected by familiarityand genre for preschoolers are plotted in Figure 1. Post-hoc comparisons revealthat the mean proportions accounting for the significant interaction are mainlydue to alphabet-number and informational genre (which are lesser preferredgenre) being selected more when preschoolers are familiar with them. A 2(familiarity) x 5 (genre) ANOVA on titles selected for kindergartners did notresult in an interaction between familiarity and genre.

Subjective anecdotal observations confirmed the influence of familiarity onbook selection behaviors of the children. For example, a number of children wereobserved to be familiar with the location of specific books and were able to returnfrequently selected picture books to their correct pockets unassisted by teachers,while they were unable to return less frequently selected books. Also, children whowanted to check out specific titles were able to go directly to those pockets andget the books without searching. In one classroom, a book considered popular by amajor vendor had been rebound in a plain library cover due to heavy use. The firstfew times that the children made picture book selections, they were apparentlynot aware of the content of this "plain-covered" book. However, when one childdiscovered it to be a familiar and favorite story, it was frequently selected there-afterproviding evidence that content and familiarity were important factors forthese children in making choices.

Other anecdotal observations included a Head Start child who was observedto go directly to a specific location when it was his turn to select a book. He re-selected the same book nine consecutive days and fifteen total times during thecourse of the study, taking home other books only when classmates had selected hisfavorite book before it was his turn. Finally, it was reported in another instancethat a child who had received one of the titles in the classroom collection for a

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.95-

.90-

.85-

.80-

.75-

.70-

.65-

.60-

.50-

.45-

.40-

.35-

.30-

.25-

.20-

.15-

.10-

.05-


FAMILIAR (x= .62) UNFAMILIAR (x= .34)

D Total Genrea

Alphabet- Informational Realistic Modern TraditionalNumber Fiction Fantasy Fantasy

Picture Book GenreaMeans not sharing a letter are significantly different (p < .05), Duncan's Test.

Figure 1. Preschool-age children's mean percentages ofpicture book genre selected by book familiarity.

birthday gift examined the book display until he found the title he had receivedas a gift the day before and eagerly selected it to take home.

Influence of Book Attributes on Selection/ReselectionTo determine whether or not four book attributes (i.e., location in the dis-

play, presence on vendors' lists of titles most purchased by teachers, Caldecottnominee and text difficulty) had an impact on emergent readers' book selectionbehaviors, a series of chi-square tests were computed using frequencies of totaltimes titles were selected. As shown in Table 6, the book's physical location (i.e.,

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front or back of the display, row location, column location) and whether or notthe books were on a major vendor's list of titles most often purchased by teach-ers) have no significant relationship to emergent readers' selection behaviors.

The chi-square analysis did reveal, however, that emergent readers selectedCaldecott nominees significantly more often than expected by chance. Also, chi-square analyses show that the words per page attribute only has an impact uponselection behaviors for books in the alphabet number and informational genre.For these two genres, results in Table 4 indicate that all children select books lessthan expected by chance in the two outlying categorieswordless books and thosewith the highest level of difficulty (five lines or more text per page/medium diffi-culty). Books in the other two categories (one line or less per page/3-5 wordsentences/low difficulty vocabulary and five lines or less per page/5-9 word sen-tences/low difficulty vocabulary) were selected more than expected by chance inthese two genres.

DISCUSSION

While most researchers suggest that literacy events in the home (i.e., parentsreading to their young children) directly affect emergent literacy in young chil-dren, a number of researchers assert that interest in reading is the most reliablepredictor of literacy development. Therefore, ascertaining what kinds of booksemergent readers are interested in and supplying titles that support their interestsshould facilitate literacy development. For the most part, assumptions have beenmade that emergent readers select picture books at random or choose the mostconvenient booksusing few strategies, if anyand that they have negligiblestable reading interests. The present study which investigated book selection/re-selection behaviors of emergent readers and the effects of genre, familiarity andbook attributes upon these interests counter these previously-held assumptions.

Genre played an important role in influencing book selection/reselectionbehaviors of these preschool and kindergarten children as demonstrated by the sig-nificantly higher likelihood of these emergent readers to choose from the modernand traditional fantasy genre (e.g., Caps for sale and Goldilocks and the ThreeBears). Overall, books from the alphabet-number and informational genres wereselected and reselected less frequently than the fantasy and fiction genres, althoughbooks from these unpopular genres were chosen more often if the concepts wereimbedded into a story format. In fact, titles in these least popular genres whichwere not story-imbedded were seldom selected and none were reselected. Thisfinding perhaps serves more to highlight the importance of a story line to youngchildren and less to recommending that teachers and parents avoid exposingyoung children to alphabet-number books and/or informational books. Addition-ally, since the study found that text difficulty was a significant factor in only thealphabet number and informational genres, this finding should serve as a guide toadults when exposing children to these genres, since children seem more interestedif the text closely matches their developmental level.

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Table 6

Results ofChi-square Tests on Picture Book Attributesfor Book Selection Behaviors

Picture Book Attributes

Location on Book Display(Front, Back, Row or Column)

Words per PageAlphabet-Number GenreNo WordsOne Line3 to 5 Word Sen.Vocab. Low5 Lines or LessVocabulary Low Difficulty5 Lines or MoreVocab Medium Difficulty

Words per PageInformational GenreNo WordsOne Line3 to 5 Word Sen.Vocab. Low5 Lines or LessVocabulary Low Difficulty5 Lines or MoreVocab Medium Difficulty

Caldecott NomineeMost Purchased by Teachers

All Children

Selected

Chose LessChose MoreChose MoreChose Less

Chose LessChose MoreChose MoreChose LessChose More

chi sq

ns

67.6

24.3

11.9ns

df p

3 .000

3 .000

2 .005

The findings of this study also indicated that familiarity plays a major rolein influencing the selection/reselection behaviors of emergent readers. Sincefamiliarity played a role in both selection and reselection and influenced childrenat both the preschool and kindergarten levels, it is clear that interest in books canbe nurtured by adults who spend time reading books with children and familiar-izing them with a variety of titles. Also, the study showed that kindergartners re-selected books more often than did preschoolers, suggesting that the role offamiliarity becomes even more important with age. These findings regarding theimportance of familiarity to book preference are not surprising, since it is well-understood by those who work with young children that repetition is an impor-tant part of learning. Additionally, as young children become older and developmore interest in the mechanics of reading, a book whose text is known becomesa significant avenue for the construction of letter/sound relationships and otherconventions related to the written language. While the two factors of story-imbeddedness and familiarity seemed to override other attributes of the bookssuch as cover and text illustrations, the findings regarding book attributes revealsome interesting insights. First, the finding that the placement of the book in thedisplay had no effect suggests that emergent readers do not simply select books outof convenience as had been previously thought. However, it is important to note

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that while making book selections, the children were viewing the covers throughthe plastic pockets rather than viewing books stacked with only their spines show-ing. When children can see enough to make a selection choice, it appears thatthey demonstrate patterns of reading preference based on genre and familiarity.Also, with regards to the books chosen by adults for children, i.e., whether or notthe book was a Caldecott nominee and whether or not it was frequently orderedby teachers patronizing major vendors, it appears that Caldecott nominees moreclosely reflect children's actual preferences at this age than do books frequentlyand traditionally purchased by teachers.

The fourth book attribute addressed the impact of words per page. As notedabove, when it did become a factor, children seemed to prefer books with approx-imately five lines or less per page (but not wordless) and low rather than mediumdifficulty. This finding is consistent with what might be expected given the atten-tion span and language skills common to children this age. Interestingly, emer-gent readers' interest in books may not be as keen if there are no words. A bookwhich has no words may be enjoyable for a young child to peruse on his/her own,but may not lend itself as well to positive adult-child reading times if the adultlacks the interactive reading skills to help the child create the story or talk aboutthe pictures. Also, given young children's fascination for familiarity, a wordless pic-ture book's story can vary considerably from telling to telling since the text remainsundefined. Wordless picture books may be more useful to children as discussionstarters or creative language experiences in classrooms than as a catalyst forparent-child reading experiences.

Finally, one of the most important findings of this study was the enthusiasticresponse of emergent readers to the simple procedure of selecting and takingbooks home each day. The books were treated with respect (as noted by the statis-tic that so few books were damaged or lost) and although the children were givena choice, a high percentage of children chose to take a book home each day. Thisprocedure for encouraging reading interest in emergent readers is not only some-thing that could be fairly easily adopted in any early childhood classroom, but italso has the potential to increase reading events in the home for both preschool-aged children (Robinson, Larsen & Haupt, 1995) and kindergarten-aged children(Robinson, Larsen & Haupt, 1996). Also, it appears that when emergent readersare given the opportunity to browse and examine books in an unhurried atmos-phere, more sophisticated book selection strategies emerge as a result of having ex-perience with choosing picture books. Indeed, designing classroom environmentsand daily schedules which provide emergent readers an opportunity to make picturebook selections at their own rate seems to increase the children's interest in care-fully making a selection. As noted previously, there appeared to be indications of adevelopmental pattern of selection behaviors, such as looking for familiar books,using location to find preferred titles, trying to maximize selection opportunitiesby being first, and using a favorite genre, albeit unconsciously, to select books.

Since this increasing sophistication in children's selection strategies and inter-ests was observed rather than measured empirically, further research and analysis

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is needed to more precisely identify factors related to such trends. Also, futureresearch might include home observations and interviews with family members togain information concerning home book sharing behaviors, parental impressions/perceptions of why their child might select and/or reselect certain books over othersand other influences in the natural environment that might impact young chil-dren's preferences. Likewise, additional research could focus upon issues relatedto apparent interest of children at this age in the fantasy genre and the importanceof imbeddedness of informational content in a story line. Also, research could ex-amine the influence of the complexity of story plots and aesthetic properties ofgood literature as these issues apply to emergent readers.

CONCLUSION

In summary, the results of the study provide some evidence that preschooland kindergarten children have and can develop more sophisticated book selectionstrategies and that genre preferences do appear to exist for young children. Thestudy also highlights the practicality and effectiveness of a classroom procedurewhich provides children with opportunities to self-select picture books in anunhurried manner from a sufficiently large collection of high quality books fromgenres they enjoy. Since children will seek out familiar titles, parents and educa-tors can also facilitate young children's picture book selections by displaying thebooks in such a way that they are able to view the covers, not just the spines.Ultimately, it is anticipated that self-selecting and taking home daily quality pic-ture books can not only have a positive impact upon parent/child home readingepisodes in the short term, but also have longer term benefits upon the develop-ment of young children's reading interest and future reading skills.

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Dickenson, D. K., & Tabors, P. O. (1991). Early literacy: Linkages between home, school,and literacy achievement at age five. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 6,30-46.

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emergent readers picture book s=selection

Documents

book attributesclyde

book selections

picture book totake

influence of genre

specific reading preferences

accuracy of allthe information

haupt jeannette mohlman

julia h