ABSTRACT
“What do you like to read?” We often ask children this question as we guide them toward individual reading selections. They may answer, “I like books about sports,” identifying a topic that interests them. Other children may identify a preferred genre (science fiction, fantasy, adventure, mystery, biography), a series, or an author whose work they particularly like. Some children may gravitate towards a recurrent theme—surviving trauma or forging a friendship. Their choices may instead be determined by the characters they encounter and the opportunity to identify with a particular protagonist or discover someone like themselves. Underlying these considerations are students’ central motivations for reading—to gather information, to gain insight needed to make a decision, to do or make something, and, most often, to be transported to another world and the pleasures of the page.
