“Books and stories do not automatically produce quality intellectual work in the classroom. Intellectual quality depends also on adults—committed and intentional teachers and parents who activate the potential of stories. To help teachers build on what they know about stories, Mary describes praxes for using books that are grounded in well-defined principles of teaching and learning.”
—From the Foreword by Jie-Qi Chen, Erikson Institute

Drawing from 30 years of teaching and professional development experience, this book offers a roadmap for using children's literature to provide authentic learning. Featuring a “storyteller’s voice,” each chapter includes a case study about how a particular fiction or nonfiction work can be used in an early childhood classroom; a series of open-ended questions to help readers construct their own inquiry units; and a bibliography of children’s literature. This book provides a unique synthesis of ideas based on constructivist approaches to learning, including the importance of positive dispositions and learning communities, the nature of higher-order thinking, and the relationship between methods such as guided inquiry in the sciences and balanced literacy.  

Chapters:
1.   How Are Learning Communities Like Stone Soup? Exploring a Praxis
2.   What Can We Learn From the 3 Little Pigs? The Three E’s of Quality Intellectual Work
3.   Can Cinderella’s Slipper Be Gold Instead of Glass? The Role of Questions in Quality Intellectual Work
4.   How Can We Play With Abiyoyo? The SIP of Play and Quality Intellectual Work.
5.   What Makes a Good Goldilocks? Assessing the Quality of Picture Books
6.   How Long Is Tikki Tikki Tembo? What’s the Problem with Naked Numbers?
7.   How Did The Sun and Moon Come To Be In The Sky: Playing with the Amazing Facts of Science
8.   How do You Get from Patches to a Patchwork Quilt? Reading an Object for Learning Across the Curriculum
9.   Who’s The Strongest? What Makes Stories Such Effective Tools For Quality Intellectual Work?

Mary Hynes-Berry brings a lifetime of using oral storytelling to promote learning in her work with preservice and in-service teachers at Erikson Institute, Chicago, Illinois.