Bring text and its meaning alive for students! This collection offers the perspectives of classroom teachers, researchers, and children's book authors, including award-winners Kate DiCamillo and Katherine Paterson. Together, they share their thoughts on the power of character study and how to use it to guide elementary-and middle-grade students through creating, reading, and comprehending text. The contributors evaluate character-rich books and offer instructional strategies that will help teachers become a more insightful as they implement character study in their classroom. The book begins with a Preface entitled "Why Character?" (Nancy L. Roser, Miriam G. Martinez), and a section on Contributors. The book is then divided into five parts. Part I, "The Importance of Character" includes the following chapters: (1) "The Centrality of Character" (Donald H. Graves); and (2) "Students' Developing Understanding of Character" (Miriam G. Martinez, Nancy L. Roser). Part II, "Creating Characters" includes chapters: (3) "Hey, Character, Where Did You Come From?" (Katherine Paterson); (4) "Finding My Own Stories, My Own Characters" (Deborah Wiles); (5) "Character is the Engine" (Kate DiCamillo); (6) "The Power of Small Moments" (Kimberly Willis Holt); (7) "The Shades of Character" (Franny Billingsley); (8) "Characters Crossing the Line" (Edward Bloor); and (9) "The Poet as Creator of Character" (Nikki Grimes). Part III, "Supporting Children's Understanding of Characters" includes chapters: (10) "Students Write Their Understanding of Characters--and Their Understanding Soars" (Marjorie R. Hancock); (11) "Exploring Characters Through Drama" (Lee Galda); (12) "Exploring Character Through Readers Theatre" (Susan Keehn, Miriam G. Martinez, Nancy L. Roser); (13) "Exploring Character Through Visual Representations" (Caitlin McMunn Dooley, Beth Maloch); and (14) "Enhancing the Literature Experience Through Deep Discussions of Character" (Karen Smith). Part IV, "The Best of Character-Rich Books" includes chapters: (15) "Looking Closely at Characters: How Illustrations Support Children's Understandings" (Lawrence P. Sipe, Maria Paula Ghiso); (16) "Bringing the Best of Characters Into Primary Classrooms" (Junko Yokota, William H. Teale); and (17) "Bringing the Best Characters Into Middle School Classrooms" (Janis M. Harmon, Terri Willeford, Michelle S. Kenney). Part V, "Character Redux" includes chapter (18) "Toward a Theory of Character in Children's Fiction" (Maria Nikolajeva). The following are also included: (1) Conclusion: "Where Do We Go From Here?" (Miriam G. Martinez, Nancy L. Roser); (2) Author Index; and (3) Subject Index.