Space, Place, and Children’s Reading Development

I am frequently in awe of Mackey’s methodological techniques, and this study is her best to date. Her seemingly simple starting points – a reader, a story, a map – open up into rich multimodal evidence that captures the experience and impact of reading in its immediate context and in the long-term ... Mackey has produced an important piece of scholarship that responds admirably to many urgent questions in the field of children’s literature. She provides empirical evidence that supports many of the claims made by cognitive narratologists. At the same time, she sharpens arguments against generalising about how readers will respond to the affordances of a text. Above all, this work is a celebration of children and their books. * International Research in Children's Literature * This is a fascinating, engaging, and thought-provoking book. In it we are privileged to journey alongside Margaret Mackey as she perceptively investigates the reading childhoods of twelve readers and the ways in which their early life experiences illuminate their reading experiences. Drawing on a rich interdisciplinary research base, she details each reader’s uniqueness and the common patterns in their perspectives. Margaret’s skills as a literary explorer and insightful scholar ring out from the text and advance our understanding of reading as grounded - situated and embodied. Through examining reading in motion and the alluring concept of a lifelong reading space, she challenges researchers and educators to think differently about reading and being a reader. * Professor Teresa Cremin, The Open University, UK *