Dr. Janet Towell is a Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Her doctorate in C &amp; I: Reading is from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is Professor Emerita from California State University, Stanislaus, in Turlock, California, where she taught reading/language arts courses for graduates and undergraduates over a period of 14 years. One of her greatest honors was to receive the Constance McCullough award from the International Reading Association for her literacy work with teachers in Jamaica. While teaching in Turlock, California, Dr. Towell was the Principle Investigator of the ABC Project, which gave books to 1000 children from birth to age five as a part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. An executive member of the California Reading Association, the author served as Editor of The <br />California Reader for three years. <br /><br />Dr. Towell is currently the Principle Investigator of the Reading Buddies research project, with A.D. Henderson University School and the Karen Slattery Educational Research Center in Boca Raton, Florida. Although she has published articles in professional journals such as The Reading Teacher and the Journal of Reading Education, this is her first textbook. Prior to teaching at the university level, Dr. Towell worked as a classroom teacher and Chapter I Reading Teacher for many years.