‘The right book to the right child at the right time’: Primary Teacher Knowledge of Children's Literature

It would seem to be axiomatic that primary teachers are experts in children’s literature and its potential for teaching, but such knowledge is far from consistent across the profession. The article analyses why this is so, offering an historical overview and discussion of how English education policy, over time, separated the teaching of reading from the reading of literature and the resulting impact on teachers’ knowledge and use of children’s texts in the primary classroom.