Fourth Graders' Literature Preferences

Abstract

A regionally balanced sample of fourth graders (253 girls and 239 boys) expressed their literature preferences on a 68-item fictitious annotated titles inventory. The inventory was constructed using 26 categories of fiction and nonfiction based on Schulte's (1968) and Huck and Young's (1961) children's literature classifications. Half of each subject's survey consisted of items that he or she was to consider reading; the other half included items that the subject was to consider watching on video or film. Descriptions of preferences emerged from separate factor analyses of boys' and girls' responses. The following categories were represented in both the girls' and the boys' three top-ranked factors: traditional and modern fantasy, realistic fiction about romance and adjustment, historical fiction, science and health, and biography. Only three factors could be named using category names from the original 26 children's literature categories. Eight factors could be explained in terms of the content of the items and not in terms of the predetermined categories. Thus, content may be a more powerful factor in fourth graders' literature preferences than traditional classifications and genres used by teachers, librarians, and researchers; the traditional categories are not congruent with factors that emerged from fourth graders' expressed preferences. In the analysis of variance, we found a statistically significantly greater preference for items in which responses referred to reading a selection, especially among boys. The effect sizes associated with the read versus watch findings, however, were small.