Even as children begin to master reading skills and become capable of reading to themselves, experienced teachers such as Baumgartner (2000) emphasize that there should be a place within a classroom literacy program for reading aloud. He asserts that it is being read to that best serves to inspire a love of reading. This, of course, should start as early as possible as it is through reading aloud that one can best transmit to young students a sense of the enjoyment that can be derived from reading. This is because reading is far more then just associating a phonetic sound with a certain letteró"Reading is understanding a message" (Baumgartner, 2000, p. 29).

   Phonics, decoding, and increasing comprehension are all significant factors of reading instruction; however, experts agree that these elements of reading should be played down until after the child has obtained an accurate comprehension of what books are, what purposes they serve and why it is important to learn to read (Baumgartner, 2000). Reading aloud is definitely the best way to transmit this understanding to young children. Reading instruction for young children should consist of short, exciting and fun skill activities that are surrounded by longer periods of being "read to" and practicing other communication skills such as listening, speaking, and experimenting with writing (Baumgartner, 2000).

   Jalongo and Ribblett (1997) state that research has indicated that it represents a significant breakthrough in the literacy process when a child becomes so familiar with the text of a favorite book that he or she can tell when a portion has been skipped or altered. This sort of familiarity can only be obtained through multiple readings and indicates the importance of this activity.In order to prepare for reading aloud to a Kindergarten class of 5 year olds at York Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina, this researcher endeavored to become familiar with Rosemary Wells' classic retelling of a Grimms' fairy tale, The Fisherman and His Wife (1998). This version of the story is set in Norway, and all of the charactersóexcept the fish, of courseóare represented as cats. Ragnar is the humble, but content, fisherman. He hooks a fish that has "scales like sapphires, eyes green as emeralds, and ruby red lips" (Wells, 1998).