Children’s reading practices in a democratic society. This paper draws on a longitudinal study of children’s text-oriented activities in and out of school. Through the analysis of the participant children’s talk about reading and the discourses which the talk creates, this paper provides arguments for reconsidering and widening existing discourses around reading within institutional practices in diverse societies. Drawing on the result, I argue that it is crucial to productively bring together functional, critical and affective imaginative dimensions when supporting children’s reading, while at the same time consider their various experiences and positions. The obvious goal is to bring together functional, meaning-making and critical aspects of literacy in ways in which children are supported in their socialisation as readers of literature and where also multilingual considerations are made.