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The narrative review examines the current state of research on reading for pleasure and its relevance in education and personal development. By analysing 22 studies published over the past several years (2014–2022), the authors have sought to identify the key trends and areas of focus within this field. The selected articles have been coded and analysed, and the results have been used to, among others, examine the type of research on reading for pleasure, the subject areas covered, the research methods used, the variables analysed, and the target groups involved. A particular attention has been paid to possible conceptualisations of reading for pleasure and reading for pleasure pedagogy, to the type of reading and the texts reading for pleasure may predominantly be associated with, as well as to its social dimension and relationship to the digital literary environment. The literature review shows that the studies on reading for pleasure highlight the importance of personalisation in reading for pleasure pedagogy and acknowledge the role of the material and social dimension of reading. Further, there are signs of a broader definition of reading materials, like comics, also in the educational context. The findings of the present review indicate the gaps in the research of reading for pleasure and highlight the need for a more profound understanding of the title concept and its benefits, thus contributing to the development of its future research and promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Art-related learning should be the central way of doing and playing in preschool, because the high quality of art-related education has a positive effect on children's well-being, identity development, and creative thinking. In our study we tested an integrated learning process where reading literature and telling stories is combined with the making of a craft product. In addition we created a framework of compulsory, optional and free elements to plan and evaluate the creative learning process. Our research material consists of anticipatory stories collected by storycrafting, characters made by children with craft materials/techniques, and character descriptions. The storycrafting method is implemented in this study as an anticipatory story based on a fragment of a fictional text. The character is made using the concept of a holistic craft, where the pupil designs, produces, and evaluates the whole process. The data were collected in a preschool group that consisted of 10 children, 7 boys and 3 girls. Based on the study results, it is possible to conclude that most children benefitted from the process. It seems that literature and storycrafting support designing craft products. Our study showed that integrated learning process could be an effective and a creative way of working in a preschool group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]