This book presents 25 essays and studies that explore the interplay of a variety of factors that provide the fuel for individual and collaborative explorations into the nature of literacy. Essays and studies in the book are "Patterns of Response: Struggling Readers Respond to a Real Book during Transactional Literature Discussion" (JoAnn Rubino Dugan); "Literacy Behaviors in the Spontaneous Play of a Multi-National Group of First Graders in a Small Overseas School" (Karen E. Schroeder); "Those Wonderful Toys: Read-Alouds from the Classics and Assorted Literature" (Judy Richardson); "If the Horse Is Dead, Get Off" (Wayne Otto); "Beginning Reading Methods: A Review of the Past" (Lillian R. Putnam and Ray Reutzel); "Controversial Pathways to Literacy: The Present" (D. Ray Reutzel);"Future Controversial Issues in Literacy: The Same Old Stuff or a Whole New Ball Game?" (William A. Henk); "Recreational Reading Choices: How Do Children Select Books?" (Charlene Fleener, Susan Morrison, Wayne M. Linek, Timothy V. Rasinski); "The Role of Textbooks and Reading in Content Area Classrooms" (Teresa Murden and Cindy S. Gillespie); "Graduate Students' Explorations: Their Own Words on Research and Writing" (YeVette McWhorter); "Storybook Reading in Even Start families" (Nancy Padak, Timothy V. Rasinski, Jennifer A. Fike); "Parents in a Family Literacy Program: Their Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors Regarding Literacy Learning" (Patricia E. Linder); "Coherence: One Aspect Examined of the Textual Features of the Needs of Beginners" (Liqing Tao); "Analytic Categories for Practitioners' Assessment of Instructional Discourse in Literacy Teaching: Observation in the Reading Clinic Setting" (Kathleen Roskos and Barbara Walker); "Instructional Teams in a University Clinic" (Linda Hughes and Catherine Zeek); "Preparing Preservice Elementary Teachers for Professional Collaboration with Special Education Literacy Teachers" (A. Lee Williams); "The Evolution of a Professional Development Center: Collaboration, Reflective Assessment and Refinement" (Mary Beth Sampson, Wayne M. Linek, LaVerne Raine, Pat Westergaard); "Learning to Teach in the 'Real World': Reflections on Field-Based Reading Instruction" (Evangeline V. Newton); "Promoting Diversity: A Learning Community Project for College Reading Programs and Teacher Education Programs" Mary Sheehy Costello and Norman A. Stahl); "The Field Experience Triad: Influences of the College Instructor and Cooperating Teacher on the Preservice Teacher's Beliefs, Practices, and Intentions Concerning Literacy Instruction" (Deidra W. Frazier, Thomasine H. Mencer, Mary Annette Duchein); "Redefining Reflective Practice: Thinking Forward about Conditions That Support Literacy Learning" (Jacqueline K. Peck); "Building Bridges: Designing Project Portfolios to Accommodate the Needs of Beginners" (Joan B. Elliot and Barbara Illig-Aviles); "Reducing Resistance to Content Area Literacy Courses" (Lia F. Maimon); "The Unheard Voices of Students in School Reform: A Collaborative Study with Content Reading Preservice Teachers" (Don Pottorff); and "A Collaborative Model for Developing a Children's Literature Pathway into Preservice Methods Course" (Jane B. Matanzo and Marie F. Doan). (RS)