An account by a mother--who was also a children's librarian--of how she explored her young daughter's responses to books, this book describes the effect of books upon the development of children in their early years. Beginning shortly after the child's second birthday, the book relates the mother's and daughter's views about the picture books they shared. The chapters correspond to six month periods of the child's life up to the age of five. The book shows the child's gradual understanding of the meaning of drawings and pictorial symbols, growth in comprehending the meaning of words, development of memory, and emerging distinction between reality and fiction. The book also contains material about a child's joy in sounds and words and in rhymes and rhythms, and perception of literary form both in verse and in prose. A list of the books is included. (EL)