Children's Literature and Reading Instruction: Past, Present, and Future

This paper examines the historical, political, and research roots and the currents of change which have led to the dramatic shift in reading instruction from being primarily basal dominated to being more literature driven. Historically, basal readers provided few, if any, works of literature. Further, literature was not readily accessible in schools even in school libraries until the latter part of this century. Until recently, reading methods textbook authors provided little advice on the use of literature in reading instruction beyond mention of its importance for reading enjoyment. Gradually a variety of complex factors led to the shift toward literature-based reading instruction. Research on early reading including storybook reading provided insights into the importance of literature in reading development, theories of reading shifted to include literary and socio cultural theories, teacher-led movements impacted teachers' use of literature, Texas and California mandated literature in basals and reading instruction, and professional journals increasingly published articles about literature's role in literacy learning. The future of children's literature in reading instruction depends, in part, on exploiting the potential of on line and electronic texts, fine-tuning genres of literature which will counter present and future criticisms of literature's usefulness, and constructing theories of why reading instruction requires literature as an essential component of reading instruction. /// [Spanish] Este trabajo examina las raíces históricas, políticas y científicas y las corrientes de cambio que han provocado un vuelco importante en la enseñanza de la lectura: de estar regida por los libros de lectura a estar orientada hacia la literatura. Históricamente los libros de lectura contenían pocos trabajos de literatura. Más aún, la literatura no era fácilmente accesible en las escuelas, ni siquiera en las bibliotecas escolares, hasta fines de este siglo. Hasta no hace mucho tiempo, los autores de libros sobre métodos de lectura proporcionaban poca información acerca del uso de la literatura en la enseñanza de la lectura, más allá de la mención de su importancia como entretenimiento. Gradualmente un conjunto de complejos factores condujo al cambio hacia la enseñanza de la lectura basada en la literatura. La investigación en lectura inicial que incluía la lectura de libros de cuentos permitió descubrir la importancia de la literatura en el desarrollo de la lectu