''This lively collection offers us the gift of rich new perspectives of the young child's original curriculum: story. The focus here is personal and intimate; the voices of those who care for and about our children are informative and encouraging. In these pages, children and teachers as imaginative players, storytellers, and learners are real and accessible.'' -- Vivian Gussin Paley, author of A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play ''Here's the Story provides teachers with some wonderful tools for eliciting stories from children. Each essay places clear practical suggestions in a rich intellectual framework, so that readers will learn what a story reveals about an individual child, as well as what storytelling can do for the developing child.'' -- Susan Engel, Williams College, Williamstown, MA ''Meier's book challenges the current reign of standards and testing by making the case for the remarkable power of stories to further all children's languages and literacies, their sense of self and of community.'' -- Dinah Volk, College of Education and Human Services, Cleveland State University ''These detailed narratives empower educators to view each child as an active learner and encourages teachers to redefine their role in the classroom.'' -- Isauro M. Escamilla, teacher and consultant, San Francisco Unified School District Featuring contributions from a unique mix of authors -- classroom teachers, teacher educators, and children's book authors -- this volume explores the value of stories in promoting children's language and literacy learning. Major sections cover the most fundamental and critical foundations for language and literacy growth -- including first language learning, multilingual learning, and literacy development -- and then focus on the forms and functions of story from infants and toddlers to the upper elementary grades. Here's the Story is a practical text that offers the conceptual and theoretical background for promoting new ways of bringing narrative to the forefront of children s current language and literacy learning. Book Features: * Original examples of exemplary instruction from multilingual and multicultural settings. * Practical suggestions and ideas for caregiving and teaching. * Interviews with celebrated children's books authors Nina Crews and Elisa Klevin.

''This lively collection offers us the gift of rich new perspectives of the young child's original curriculum: story. The focus here is personal and intimate; the voices of those who care for and about our children are informative and encouraging. In these pages, children and teachers as imaginative players, storytellers, and learners are real and accessible.'' -- Vivian Gussin Paley, author of A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play ''Here's the Story provides teachers with some wonderful tools for eliciting stories from children. Each essay places clear practical suggestions in a rich intellectual framework, so that readers will learn what a story reveals about an individual child, as well as what storytelling can do for the developing child.'' -- Susan Engel, Williams College, Williamstown, MA ''Meier's book challenges the current reign of standards and testing by making the case for the remarkable power of stories to further all children's languages and literacies, their sense of self and of community.'' -- Dinah Volk, College of Education and Human Services, Cleveland State University ''These detailed narratives empower educators to view each child as an active learner and encourages teachers to redefine their role in the classroom.'' -- Isauro M. Escamilla, teacher and consultant, San Francisco Unified School District Featuring contributions from a unique mix of authors -- classroom teachers, teacher educators, and children's book authors -- this volume explores the value of stories in promoting children's language and literacy learning. Major sections cover the most fundamental and critical foundations for language and literacy growth -- including first language learning, multilingual learning, and literacy development -- and then focus on the forms and functions of story from infants and toddlers to the upper elementary grades. Here's the Story is a practical text that offers the conceptual and theoretical background for promoting new ways of bringing narrative to the forefront of children s current language and literacy learning. Book Features: * Original examples of exemplary instruction from multilingual and multicultural settings. * Practical suggestions and ideas for caregiving and teaching. * Interviews with celebrated children's books authors Nina Crews and Elisa Klevin.