R ESEARCH in the field of children's literature during the three-year period under review was characterized more by dearth than by abundance. Articles on various aspects of children's books, authors, and classroom activities filled the journals, but few reflected well-organized research design. The most significant studies were those which dealt with (a) attempts, based on sound research principles, to ascertain reading interests and tastes of children and (b) the influence of literary experiences on the psychological functioning of the individual. Some reported efforts at individualized reading instruction, but few based choices of materials on judgments of children. Adult judgments of literature for children seemed still to prevail in selection and utilization. Children's Reading Interests The most comprehensive research on children's reading interests was reported by Norvell (1958), whose study included findings based on approximately 960,000 expressions of opinion of more than 24,000 children in grades 3 to 6 in all sizes of schools in New York State. Some conclusions were based on an augmented sample using data from the same geographical area. These data, with what were gathered earlier, brought the total sample to more than 4 million expressions of opinion from 124,000 children. Twenty-five hundred teachers assisted in the study, which was in process for more than 25 years. The aim was to devise a procedure for data collection for classroom teachers which would yield results that could be combined with other independent studies carried out by the same procedure. Further aims included devising ways to determine (a) the number of pupil reports on a given literary selection necessary to yield a dependable reading-interest score; (b) the effect of age, intelligence, and sex on interest factors; (c) the influence on children's interests of adventure, humor, and romantic love in selections; (d) the effect of quality of teaching on reading interests; and (e) change from grade to grade of children's enjoyment of literary materials. Methods of collecting, processing, and interpreting the data were explained in detail. Carefully controlled statistical procedures were employed to assure reliability of results.