Instead of merely correlating the amount of time a child is read to with gross measures of language development or reading achievement, researchers need to examine closely, through naturalistic studies, the underlying construction and organization of story book reading events between parent and child. The notion of scaffolding, in which the adult supplies a structure of supportive information that is gradually decreased as the child becomes less dependent, plays a large part in reading aloud to very young children. The pattern of interaction changes for older children, to one in which the adult expects the child to listen to particular segments of text, learn from the information contained in the material, and remember and convey the content to the adult in the questioning that follows each segment. This interactional pattern helps socialize some preschool children for reading instruction in school. Longitudinal studies of the effects of variations in parent-child interactions during story book reading can do much to further children's literacy development. (AEA)