A study explored the changing role of the elementary teacher within the context of book discussions as teachers move from basal instruction to literature-based reading instruction. As part of an earlier study, two upper-grade teachers consistently expressed concern during interviews and group discussions with their colleagues about how to foster both literary appreciation and literacy achievement through book discussions. Three additional classroom book discussions were videotaped one year after videotapings were made in connection with the earlier study. Both teachers were interviewed before and after the book discussions concerning how they planned, organized, facilitated, and evaluated the discussions. Results indicated that although both teachers had goals of fostering child-centered discussions supporting higher-level thinking, one teacher seemed unable to adjust her instructional stance in ways that would foster a more student-centered discussion, while the other teacher appeared to value students' interpretive and critical thinking and was also able to orchestrate classroom conditions to foster such talk during book discussions. Findings support the argument that teachers may claim to value creative, interpretive responses but concentrate mainly on literal responses in the discussions they actually conduct. (Three tables of data are included; 19 references are attached.) (RS)