Reading comprehension is a vital part of literacy that all primary school teachers need to understand. Drawing from educational and psychological research, this book offers a detailed analysis of how reading comprehension happens combined with practical teaching strategies for the classroom. This heavily revised second edition explores the underlying linguistic and cognitive processes that support comprehension, from inference making to the role of metacognition. It builds on this procedural knowledge to examine text selection, classroom pedagogy and how to assess comprehension. This is essential reading for primary English modules on initial teacher education courses, including university-based (PGCE, BA w/QTS, BEd) and school-based (SCITT, Teach First) routes into teaching, and also for current teachers wishing to further develop their knowledge.