Current research increasingly highlights the role of early literacy in young children's development--and informs practices and policies that promote success among diverse learners. This handbook presents cutting-edge knowledge on all aspects of literacy learning in the early years. Volume 2 provides additional perspectives on important topics covered in Volume 1 and addresses critical new topics: the transition to school, the teacher-child relationship, sociodramatic play, vocabulary development, neuroimaging work, Vygotskian theory, findings from international studies, and more. This book serves as a text in advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses and can be used by students and researchers in reading, early childhood education, child development, educational psychology, linguistics, and social policy; reading specialists, staff developers, and classroom teachers; policymakers focusing on literacy and early intervention. This book divides into seven parts and 30 chapters. Part I, Cognitive and Linguistic Building Blocks of Early Literacy Development, contains: (1) A Window of Opportunity We Must Open to All: The Case for Preschool with High-Quality Support for Language and Literacy (David K. Dickinson, Allyssa McCabe, and Marilyn J. Essex); (2) The Knowledge Gap: Implications for Early Education (Susan B. Neuman); (3) Vocabulary Development and Instruction: A Prerequisite for School Learning (Andrew Biemiller); (4) Literacy Development: Insights from Research on Skilled Reading (Jane Ashby and Keith Rayner); and (5) Neurobiological Investigations of Skilled and Impaired Reading (Kenneth R. Pugh, Rebecca Sandak, Stephen J. Frost, Dina Moore, and W. Einar Mencl). Part II, Phonemic Awareness and Letter Knowledge, contains: (6) Conceptualizing Phonological Processing Skills in Prereaders (Christopher J. Lonigan); (7) The Development of Phonological Sensitivity (Stephen R. Burgess); (8) Phonemic Awareness and Reading: Beyond the Growth of Initial Reading Accuracy (Beth M. Phillips and Joseph K. Torgesen); and (9) The Roots of Learning to Read and Write: Acquisition of Letters and Phonemic Awareness (Linnea C. Ehri and Theresa Roberts). Part III, Families and Relationships: Socioemotional and Linguistic Supports, contains: (10) The Influence of Parenting on Emerging Literacy Skills (Susan H. Landry and Karen E. Smith); (11) Teacher-Child Relationships in Early Literacy (Robert C. Pianta); (12) Environmental Supports for Language Acquisition (Erika Hoff); and (13) The Misunderstood Giant: On the Predictive Role of Early Vocabulary to Future Reading (Monique Senechal, Gene Ouellette, and Donna Rodney). Part IV, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity, contains: (14) Effective Interventions for English Language Learners (Spanish/English) at Risk for Reading Difficulties (Sharon R. Vaughn, Sylvia Linan-Thompson, Sharolyn Pollard-Durodola, Patricia G. Mathes, and Elsa Cardenas-Hagan); (15) Recent Research on the Language and Literacy Skills of African American Students in the Early Years (Holly K. Craig and Julie A. Washington); (16) Cultural Diversity in Early Literacy: Findings in Dutch Studies (Paul P. M. Leseman and Cathy van Tuijl); and (17) Considering Culture in Research-Based Interventions to Support Early Literacy (Stuart McNaughton). Part V, Supporting Literacy in Preschool Classrooms, contains: (18) Vygotskian Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Early Literacy (Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong); (19) Preschool Classroom Environments and the Quantity and Quality of Children's Literacy and Language Behaviors (Dale C. Farran, Canan Aydogan, Shin Ji Kang, and Mark W. Lipsey); (20) The Relationships between Sociodramatic Play and Literacy Development (Lesley Mandel Morrow and Judith A. Schickedanz); (21) Encouraging Young Children's Language Interactions with Stories (Isabel L. Beck and Margaret G. McKeown); and (22) Early Literacy Policy and Pedagogy (Kathleen Roskos and Carol Vukelich). Part VI, Programmatic Interventions During the Preschool Years, contains: (23) Reading Ahead? Effective Interventions for Young Children's Early Literacy Development (Pia Rebello Britto, Allison S. Fuligni, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn); (24) A Pediatric Approach to Early Literacy, Robert (Needlman, Perri Klass, and Barry Zuckerman); and (25) Emergent Literacy of Low Income Children in Head Start: Relationships with Child and Family Characteristics, Program Factors, and Classroom Quality (Nicholas Zill and Gary Resnick). Part VII, Toward Effective Primary Grade Instruction, contains: (26) The Transition to School (Frederick J. Morrison, Carol McDonald Connor, and Heather Bachman); (27) Perspectives on the Difficulty of Beginning Reading Texts (Elfrieda H. Hiebert and Heidi Anne E. Mesmer); (28) The Impact of Early School Experiences on Initial Reading (Connie Juel); (29) Policy Decisions in Early Literacy Assessment (Terry Salinger); and (30) Early Education Interventions: Principles of Effective and Sustained Benefits from Targeted Early Education Programs (Sharon Landesman Ramey and Craig T. Ramey).