This paper explores some alternative ways to think about critical thinking in the study of literature in the elementary grades. In a review of the research, the paper examines several factors that have shaped, or influenced, the trends in the literature curriculum over the years to determine if and how these factors influenced the teaching of critical thinking about children's literature in the elementary grades. Critical reading is defined as the application of critical thinking to the act of reading. Within this framework the paper addresses the following topics: (1) the major factors influencing the trends in the literature curriculum in the elementary grades within the past 30 years; (2) substantive research focusing on critical thinking about children's literature, selection of materials for use in the teaching of critical thinking about literature, especially the critical thinking about literature as art; and (3) literature programs originating from various sources, i.e., children's literature textbooks developed in colleges, or by state departments of education, and commercial children's literature programs. The paper argues that when literature is viewed as an art, students can study literature in its truest sense, that is, engaging in critical thinking when interpreting and evaluating it. Ninety-eight references are attached. (MS)