Intended to bridge the gap between current research and theory about literacy learning and teaching and teacher knowledge of that theory and research, this book raises questions about what teachers should know about language, literacy, and learning to help children become confident, reflective, independent learners both in and out of school. Specifically, the book challenges teachers to examine and justify their literacy teaching practices, the literary products they value, and the literacy learning experiences that they provide for their students. It is argued that teachers do children a disservice if they either confine literacy teaching and learning to the language arts curriculum or orient their teaching practices toward the learning of content rather than toward the development of thinking and understanding. Titles of the essays and their authors are as follows: (1) "Literacy, Learning and Teaching" (N. Stewart-Dore); (2) "Learning to Be Literate--Naturally" (B. Parkes); (3) "Learning to Mean in Writing" (F. Christie); (4) "Connecting Writing and Reading" (M. Anstey); (5) "Thinking-Through Text" (B. Morris); (6) "Writing and Reading to Learn Together" (J. Weis and N. Stewart-Dore); and (7) "Writing and Reading Culturally" (N. Stewart-Dore, R. Guttormsen, and N. Kennedy). (JD)