• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.17
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• pp.105-159
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• 1989

The purpose of this study is (a) to identify physical and content elements of children's books that seem to interest second and fifth graders to read, and (b) to observe how the influence of those elements on children's reading interest shifts as children develop. For the purpose of this study, children's books are classified into two groups: 'books of low preference' and 'books of high preference' as determined by second graders, and fifth graders' library circulation record in the library chosen as the sample for the present study. The physical and content elements of the books belonging to these two groups are analyzed and compared. Main findings and conclusions made in this study are summarised as follows: (1) The physical elements of children's books which have significant relationship with second graders' reading preference are illustration quantity, size of types, space between lines, and size of the book. (2) The content elements of children's books which have significant relationship with second graders' reading preference are the readability level of sentences, and the sex of heroes. (3) The physical elements of children's books which have significant relationship with fifth graders' reading preference are illustration quantity, illustration styles, and size of the book. (4) The content elements of children's books which have significant relationship with fifth graders' reading preference are the readability level, the sex of heroes, subject matters, themes and the environmental settings as the background of stories. (5) Reading preference of the pupils at the second and fifth grades are influenced by the quantity of illustration. Second grade pupils prefer reading books which contain a larger quantity of illustrations, whereas 5th grade pupils prefer books which contain less quantity of illustrations. (6) The relationship between second graders' reading preference and the illustration style are rejected at the $10\%$ significance level. A strong relationship, however, appears to exist between 5th graders' reading preference and the illustration style. The 5th grade pupils prefer more realistic illustrations, while cartoons and semi-abstract drawings do not appeal to them. (7) The type size, and space between lines which have had great influence on the book preference of 2nd grade pupils influence little on the 5th grade pupils book preference. (8) Second grade pupils prefer the book of a small Size, whereas 5th grade pupils whose reading taste has developed at a primary stage prefer the book of a large size beyond a certain standard. (9) Second grade pupils prefer reading books which can be easily read, whreeas 5th grade pupils prefer reading books containing difficult sentences. (10) Second grade pupils and the 5th grade pupils both prefer books in accordance with the sex of there heroes. (11) Relationship between second graders' reading preference and the subject matters are rejected at the 10% significance level. A strong relationship, however, appears to exist between 5th graders' reading preference and the subject matter. Fifth grade pupils prefer reading books of which the themes are mystery, exploration and adventure. (12) The theme of books is not proved to relate with the book preference of the 2nd grade pupils, but it is closely related with the book preference of 5th grade pupils. Fifth grade pupils prefer reading books which contain exploratory stories. (13) Second grade pupils are not influenced by the environmental setting of the story, but 5th grade pupils prefer reading stories with the environmental setting in the air. (14) The quantity of illustrations is the element influencing most on .the book preference of the 2nd grade pupils, followed by the space between the lines, which influences least on the book preference of the 5th grade pupils. (15) The physical element influencing most on the book preference of the 2nd grade pupils is the quantity of the illustrations. The physical element which has the most strong influence on the book preference of the 5th graders is illustration styles. (16) The content elements which has much influence on the book preference of the 5th grade pupils are certain kinds of characteristics of heroes. In case of the 2nd grade pupils book preference, striking evidence of such characteristics of heroes is not traced.