Telling a Different Story

This clear, thought-provoking close study of teaching practices invites us into the classroom of a Head Start teacher and her assistant as they confront the challenges of early childhood education. Through classroom scenes and dialogue, Catherine Wilson explores the role that reading to children plays in an early childhood program. Drawing on the recent knowledge base on childhood literacy, Wilson looks forward, highlighting and discussing a new set of questions about prevailing prescriptions for “developmentally appropriate practice” and emergent literacy. She focuses directly on story reading and the decisions that teachers make in using children’s literature in their teaching as well as the impact of public policy on teachers, children, and families. This well-written volume will interest teachers, teacher educators, and anyone concerned with childhood literacy and improving classroom practices.

Catherine Wilson has been an early childhood teacher and children’s librarian, and is currently assistant professor in Early Childhood Education at Park College.

“More than an illustration of the power of story, Wilson’s book provokes us to think about the ways in which teachers and their children can imagine and help create a more just world.”
—Celia Genishi, Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

“In an era when conversations about reading are occurring everywhere, and at the same time we are seeking to refine our understanding of reflective teaching, Wilson’s book is timely and powerful. Full of dilemmas, anxieties, and struggles, she tells an intricate and finely detailed story about teachers and children transforming each other.”
—Carol Brunson Phillips, Executive Director, Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition