Tell Me: Children, Reading & Talk

'In any group of children . . . we find that if they begin by sharing their most obvious observations they soon accumulate a body of understanding that reveals the heart of a text and its meaning(s) for them all. Even when quite complicated or abstract ideas are approached this way (through story images and talked-out interpretations) there is little that children cannot grasp. In this activity there is a balance to be found between respect for the rights of the individual as a reader and talker and the corporately composed reading of the group - the community text which is always more complex and insightful than one individual reading can ever be.'

Tell Me offers practical information under-pinned by clearly explained theory about book-talking in the classroom, explaining some of the processes and outlining the ground rules developed by experienced practitioners. From their experience has been formulated a Framework, 'a repertoire of questions that assist readers in speaking out their reading'.

One of the most widely read and successful, practically-based books available about literary education, Tell Me has been translated into Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese A separate edition prepared for the USA is published by Stenhouse Press.

Along with its companion volume THE READING ENVIRONMENT, Tell Me is a set text on many university and in-service courses for students, teachers and librarians.

First published by Thimble Press, 1993

www.thimblepress.co.uk

Latest reprint, Thimble Press, 2001

If you have trouble buying either Tell Me or The Reading Environment, mail me.

U.S.A. publisher: Stenhouse Publishers, www.stenhouse.com/ Canadian publisher: Pembroke, www.pembrokepublishers.com/

All contents are ©Aidan Chambers unless otherwise stated.