Emergent Literacy -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Table of contents -- 1. Emergent literacy and children's literature -- Children's books from 0 to 3 -- Research on emergent literacy -- Main topics in this volume -- References -- Part I. Premises of early literacy -- 2. The dragon in the cave: Textual representations of fictional and everyday events -- Introduction -- A continuum of meaning -- Practically lived texts -- The wolf in the cave -- The Early Mark Making project -- Participants -- Collecting and analysing data -- Transcription and analysis -- Findings -- Generic frameworks -- Ruby and Disneyland -- The dragon in the cave -- Conclusion -- References -- 3. Color perception in infants and young children -- Introduction -- Significance of color in picturebooks -- What is color? -- The construction of color in our visual system -- How is color vision tested in infants and preschool children? -- The development of color vision -- Conclusions for the choice of colors in picturebooks -- Acknowledgments -- Children's books cited -- References -- 4. Parallel receptions of the fundamental -- Introduction -- Fundamental forms in early childhood education -- Friedrich Fröbel and abstract concepts in picturebooks for small children -- Basic designs in modern art -- Representation of basic designs in picturebooks -- Understanding symbols in media-dominated realities -- Conclusion -- Children's books cited -- References -- Part II. Picturebooks for children under three -- 5. Picturebooks: Where literature appreciation begins -- 1. Benefits of reading aloud to infants and toddlers -- 2. The secrets of emotionally satisfying picturebook narratives -- 3. Analyzing picturebook classics -- 4. Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- Children's books cited -- References -- 6. Early-concept books: Acquiring nominal and verbal concepts.

Introduction -- Early-concept books: Nominal concepts -- Early-concept books focusing on verbal concepts: An overview -- Linguistic aspects of early-concept books focusing on verbal concepts -- Paratexts in early-concept books -- Early-concept books and related picturebooks for young children -- Early-concept books and emergent literacy -- Children's books cited -- References -- 7. Reading as playing: The cognitive challenge of the wimmelbook -- Not another puzzle book: General genre characteristics -- What wimmelbooks have to offer: Possible reading options -- Playing the book: What readers actually do with wimmelbooks -- Conclusion: Playfulness and the joy of reading -- Children's books cited -- References -- 8. Metaphors in picturebooks from 0 to 3 -- Overview -- Research on metaphor competence -- Cognitive development in the first three years -- Conceptual metaphor theory -- Conclusion -- Children's books cited -- References -- 9. Early impressions: Paths to literacy -- Introduction -- Cognition and memory formation -- ABC: Touch and memory -- The Z was Zapped: Assaulting the alphabet -- ABC3D: Letters in motion -- Mocking Birdies: Steps to music literacy -- OH!: Linear progression -- Orange Pear Apple Bear: Playing with words -- Conclusion -- Children's books cited -- References -- 10. Linking behavioral training and scientific thinking -- Introduction -- Linking behavioral (toilet) training to scientific thinking -- Linking scientific thinking to proper behavior -- Conclusion -- Children's books cited -- References -- Part III. Child-book interactions: Case studies -- 11. Mothers' talking about early object and action concepts during picturebook reading -- Theoretical background -- Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- References -- 12. "Don't tell me all about it - just read it to me!" -- A Reading at two years eleven months.

Parent-observer studies -- "Sharing" picturebooks -- Words, spoken and printed -- Book-handling skills, letters and learning to read -- Infant picture recognition -- Children's books cited -- References -- 13. "This is me": Developing literacy and a sense of self through play, talk and stories -- Young precocious readers -- Literate home backgrounds -- Reading aloud and re-reading books -- Literacy learning through play -- Literacy learning through play and stories -- Literacy learning through play, talk and stories -- Talk around and about stories -- Developing a sense of self through books -- Moving from play, talk and stories to writing … portrayal of self in multimodal book making activities -- Look Through the Window -- Hide and Seek -- Children, Children, What Do You See? -- Conclusion -- Children's books cited -- References -- 14. The emotional development of young bilingual children -- The background to this study -- Isabel -Early exposure to books from birth through first year -- Isabel - The emotional pull of the 'mother tongue' from 1 to 2 years -- Isabel - Changes in the family and her use of language from 2 to 3 years -- Isabel and Flora - The impact of the new arrival -- Flora starts her journey with picturebooks -- Flora - Interlinguality, intertextuality and humour from 2 to 3 years -- Flora - The pleasures of two languages or of words in two languages -- Flora - Keeping up with big sister -- Discussion -- Summary -- Children's books cited -- References -- About the editor and contributors -- Index.