PIRLS is a large-scale comparison of the reading performance of Year 4 students in 50 countries, and Year 4 was chosen because it is the point in schooling where most students transition from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’. As the essential nature of their relationship with reading naturally changes, it becomes important to monitor not only students’ progress but also how they feel about reading. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Deputy CEO (Research) Dr Sue Thomson looks at what else PIRLS results reveal about Australia’s relationship with reading.