ABSTRACT
It seems fair to say that the market-driven genesis of electronic storybooks has relied more on evidence of commercial appeal than evidence of efficacy. If we assume the presence of eStorybooks in classrooms for the foreseeable future, it is important that literacy researchers systematically produce the latter kind of evidence, asking questions that are key to determining the most effective ways of using these promising resources. Such questions include how best to integrate eStorybooks into classroom instruction and which features are likely to aid particular students, both those who struggle and those who do not. Research agendas devised to address these questions must be grounded in theory. Some of the theoretical underpinnings of these lines of inquiry are extensions of those used in print settings; some are unique to hypermedia contexts (see also Neuman, this volume). Our goals in this chapter are to examine how theory can inform investigations into the effectiveness of eStorybooks, to summarize the evidence presently available, and to derive recommendations for practice on the basis of both theory and research.
