This book explores the rich and varied world of children's literature and how it can be used in teaching to promote reading for pleasure and create lifelong readers.

Part 1: Children¿s Literature and Reading: What Counts as Knowledge?
Chapter 1: Knowledge and Skills: The Contested Space
Chapter 2: Reading Teachers
Chapter 3: Patterns of Children¿s Reading
Part 2: Knowing Children¿s Literature
Chapter 4: Narrative and Story
Chapter 5: Aspects of Fiction
Chapter 6: Traditional Stories and Fairy Tales
Chapter 7: Fantasy
Chapter 8: Realism
Chapter 9: Back in Time: Revisiting the Past through Children's Literature
Chapter 10: Classic Children¿s Books
Chapter 11: Picturebooks
Chapter 12: Illustrated Fiction, Comics and Graphic Novels
Chapter 13: Non-fiction
Chapter 14: The Pleasure of Poetry
Chapter 15: Humour: A Serious Business
Part 3: Into Practice
Chapter 16: The Reading School: Developing a Reading Culture
Chapter 17: The Reading Classroom

Nikki Gamble is Director of Just Imagine, an organisation which seeks to promote literacy using high-quality children's literature. Formerly a university lecturer and teacher, Nikki has worked in education for 40 years. She continues to work in schools on research and development projects. Nikki is co-author of the awards winning Guiding Readers: layers of meaning (UKLA Academic Book of the Year 2017).