Children's play : the roots of reading / edited by Edward F. Zigler, Dorothy G. Singer, Sandra J. Bishop-Josef.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Play under siege : a historical overview / Edward F. Zigler and Sandra J. Bishop-Josef -- Development in the first years of life / Ross A. Thompson -- The roots and fruits of pretending / Marilyn Segal -- Real and not real : a vital developmental dichotomy / Brian Vandenberg -- School readiness and children's play : contemporary oxymoron or compatible option? / Sharon Lynn Kagan and Amy E. Lowenstein -- Fostering school achievement and creativity through sociodramatic play in the classroom / Jerome L. Singer and Mawiyah A. Lythcott -- Examining the play-literacy interface : a critical review and future directions / Kathleen Roskos and James Christie -- Play in the multicultural world of children : implications for adults / Barbara Bowman -- Revisiting shared meaning : looking through the lens of culture and linking shared pretend play through proto-narrative development to emergent literacy / Carollee Howes and Alison Gallwey Wishard -- Play and school readiness / Sue Bredekamp -- Encouraging school readiness through guided pretend games / Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer.

Publisher description: Play is the natural way for children to explore, learn, and build skills. This has been a core concept of the early care and education field for a century, and extensive empirical research has documented the value of play for cognitive and social development. Despite the evidence, educators and policymakers are now reexamining the preschool curriculum and substituting formal instruction in reading readiness for the free play periods, and this narrow emphasis on cognitive development, has serious implications for early care and education. In Children's Play, leading experts contribute to and inform the current national debate. Contributors examine recent policy decisions and demonstrate the importance of play in helping children learn basic literacy skills, social awareness, and creative problem solving. Readers will also find a comprehensive summary of the developmental benefits of play, examples of how research has been applied in practice, a multicultural perspective on play, and ideas for how to play imaginative games with children.