DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Acknowledgments The ideas, experiences, and examples harvested for this book come from more places than we can remember or acknowledge. We apologize for any unintended omission of citations and extend our appreciation to all the instructors, authors, artists, and illustrators from whose work we have drawn inspiration. A number of teachers and programs generously offered us their time, photographs, and observation stories for the first edition of this book, pub- lished in 2000, when digital photography was in its infancy in early childhood settings. So, while we continue to be grateful for their contributions, mov- ing the book to full color with digital photographs meant we had to replace nearly every story and photo for this 2013 edition. For their contributions to this new edition, we give special thanks to the staff at Crescent Park Child Development Center, in Palo Alto, California, including Stephanie Hill, Jess Guiney, Sheena Wilton, Lindsay Juricich, Jesly Morales, Simone Fussell, Uwimana Middleton, Katja Davis, Michael Burrell, Julia Hill-Wright, and Tierney Falkner. Their exceptional child-centered work inspired Deb to work with them in opening a toddler room, and they generously contributed stories and photos to this book. Lorrie Baird, Samantha Monteith, Julie Thompson, Angela Hoar, Norma Curtis, Dianne Traynor, Nicole Kent, and Lisa Delgarno at Kawartha Child Care Services in Peterborough, Ontario, inspired us as they embraced the use of learning stories as a staff development tool, and they generously contributed samples of their work. Shelly Brandon from London Bridge Child Care Services in London, Ontario, contributed several thoughtful stories about her work with toddlers. Sarah Felstiner, Emily Viehauser, Sandra Floyd, and Jill Loreto of Hilltop Children’s Center in Seattle, Washington, con- tinued to offer us terrific examples of how observation can inspire and trans- form one’s teaching practice. After fifteen years of work at Hilltop, Ann Pelo has moved on to other endeavors, but her contributions to this book remain strong. Karina Rojas, Luz Casio, Elida Sangerman, and Laura McAlister offered us lovely observations and photos of their work to begin to practice the art of awareness in their bilingual centers of Sound Child Care Solutions, also in Seattle. For many years we’ve worked with the consultants and cohort teachers of United Way Bright Beginnings in Houston, Texas, and watched them grow in documenting their offerings of invitations of beautiful materials ix COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL