A study examined decisions made by parents reading aloud to their first-grade children regarding why they do or do not read aloud, the materials they select and the selection process, and what they do while reading aloud. Subjects, 342 parents of first graders in a suburban elementary school district, were surveyed, with responses received from 83.6%. A subgroup of 16 parents further participated in one or more methods of data collection, such as diaries, interviews, videotaping, and stimulated recalls. Results showed that parents had a variety of purposes for reading aloud, with some intending to make high cognitive demands on children and others intending to develop low-level skills such as decoding. Materials selected and strategies used during reading aloud events were highly influenced by parents' purposes for reading aloud. Reading aloud was found to be "mom's job." Frequency of reading aloud was related to parents' levels of education, ethnicity, and marital statuses, but not by mothers' employment statuses. Storybooks were overwhelmingly identified as the most used genre. Usage of other genres was related to parents' levels of education and ethnicity. The library was the primary source of materials. Based on the decisions parents made about all aspects of the reading aloud process, six categories of parents were identified. (Two figures and 15 tables of data are included; 58 references and 3 appendixes--containing parent surveys and cover letters, a diary page, interview questions, and a list of children's books used in interviews--are attached.) (SR)