This volume looks at three different broad topics that are of continuing interest for early education and care. The first part of the volume furthers the view of children's acquisition of literacy and how that acquisition takes place. The second part addresses preparation of professionals in early childhood education. The third part provides perspectives on child care practices in four different countries. Articles in this volume are: (1) "Literacy Play Interventions: A Review of Empirical Research" (James F. Christie); (2) "Framing Child Texts with Child Worlds: The Social Use of Oral and Written Narratives in an Urban K/1 Classroom; (Anne Haas Dyson); (3) "What Parents Tell Us about Children's Emerging Literacy" (Nancy Roser and others); (4) "The Preparation of Teachers of Young Children" (Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek); (5) "Assessing the Preparation of Infant/Toddler Caregivers" (Alice Sterling Honig); (6) "Issues and Evaluation of an Israeli Early Childhood Leadership Training Program" (Miriam K. Rosenthal and Rena Shimoni); (7) Child Care from the Perspective of Parents, Caregivers, and Children: Australian Research" (Margaret Clyde and others); (8) "Child Rearing Ideas and Feelings of Russian and American Mothers and Early Childhood Teachers: Some Comparisons" (Jean M. Ispa); and (9) "The Roots of Discipline in Japanese Preschools: Meeting Children's Need for Friendship and Contribution" (Catherine C. Lewis). (HTH)