Carollee Howes is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Peer Interaction in Young Children.

"The assumption of different developmental functions of social pretense at different points in ontogeny is a good one; and the elaboration of this thesis is well done. What I liked best about the work is the current information presented and the efforts to link empirical research to theory construction as well as to practice and policy. The authors are to be commended for their efforts to pull together in a meaningful way very current research findings. There are excellent and provocative suggestions on adult conceptions of play hierarchies." — James E. Johnson, The Pennsylvania State University

• 1. Introduction PART I: Mastery of the Communication of Meaning 2. Mastery of the Communication of Meaning in Social Pretend Play3. Mothers and Toddlers: Partners in Early Symbolic Play: Illustrative Study #1Laura Beizer and Carollee Howes4. Collaborative Construction of Social Pretend Play between Toddler-Age Partners: Illustrative Study #2Carollee Howes and Olivia Unger5. An Analysis of Young American and Mexican Children's Play Dialogues: Illustrative Study #3JoAnn M. FarverPART II: Negotiating Social Pretend Play: Issues of Control and Compromise 6. Expressing and Exploring Issues of Control and Compromise by Negotiating Social Pretend Play Meanings and Scripts7. Mothers' Beliefs about Mediating Peer Play and Toddler-Age Children's Peer Networks: Illustrative Study #4Olivia A. Unger8. Attachment Security and Social Pretend Play Negotiations: Illustrative Study #5Carollee Howes and Carol RodningPART III: Trust and Intimacy 9. Exploring Issues of Intimacy and Trust within Social Pretend Play: A Review10. Friendship and Social Pretend Play: Illustrative Study #6Carollee Howes, Catherine Matheson, & Fang Wu11. Multiple Attachments and Peer Relationships in Social Pretend Play: Illustrative Study #7Catherine Matheson12. Self-disclosure in the Pretend Play of Physically and Sexually Abused Children: Illustrative Study #8Nan Tarlow and Carollee Howes13. ConclusionsNotesReferencesSubject IndexAuthor Index