Includes bibliographical references and index.

pt. 1. Setting the scene -- The difficult art of narrative -- Meaning-making: a word about semiotics -- pt. 2. Tales told, visualised, read, said, heard, shared and transformed -- 'Listen with your nose and eyes': the power of the oral tradition -- Reading the images -- The interweaving of pictures with words -- The tale visualised in your head -- Whose culture is it? -- Children's books in translation -- pt. 3. Reading the world -- Controversy: the role and significance of postmodern picture books -- Making the coin and currency: the child as narrator -- Adopting and subverting the real world through narrative in role play -- Building your collection.

By making and sharing stories, we come to understand our world and everything in it. Our lives are enhanced by the narratives we encounter, make and share - yet the time schools devote to reading and telling stories diminishes and now focuses primarily on literacy, not literature. This book is about stories and young children.