Students enrolled in three school districts in Northern Illinois were investigated to determine the relationship between the self-esteem of selected groups of intermediate grade children and their attitude toward reading, in terms of their sex, grade level, classification of school, and various combinations of these factors. Data was collected by means of two self-report instruments, i.e., the Coppersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) and the San Diego County Inventory of Reading Attitude (IRA). Each of the twenty-one classes used was tested within a three week period. Findings demonstrated that: (1) a child's attitude toward reading is positively related to self-esteem, (2) perceptions boys have of themselves in relation to peers and parents seem less related to their attitude toward reading than do their general and academic self-esteem, (3) correlations are highly significant at the fifth grade level, and (4) for each sex and at each grade level the child's self-awareness in the academic setting is related to his attitude toward reading. (Appended are several correlation tables and a bibliography.) (HS)