ABSTRACT
If a defi cit view of texts that are ‘just brief’, ‘just fl eeting’, ‘just a mess’, ‘just repetition’, ‘just copying’, ‘just a waste of time’ or ‘just plain wrong’ gives way to recognition of children’s investment of semiotic work, the focus moves to what they can do and the principles they bring to their text making. It marks a shift from shortcoming and randomness to agency, resourcefulness and purposiveness.
