The enquiries in this study were directed towards the reading of children’s literature in preschool with the aim of describing and analysing how read-alouds were carried out in 39 preschools in the northern and southern parts of Sweden. How often were read-alouds performed? How long were they? How was literature chosen? Who initiated the read-alouds? Did dialogues and follow-up activities occur? In what context did the read-alouds take place? Student preschool teachers and preschool teachers in in-service training carried out observations over the course of one week. The results indicate that read-alouds mostly occurred once each day and that they were seldom planned or embedded in a context. Books were chosen randomly. Follow-up activities occurred on 27% of reading occasions. Thus, we conclude that read-alouds had primarily a disciplinary focus. The negative effects of these findings are discussed in relation to an ideological versus an autonomous view of literacy.
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