The problem of this study was that parental perceptions of the roles and needs related to their children's reading development had not been successfully investigated. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine parental perceptions of their roles, influence, and skills most needed to assist them relating to their children's reading development; the information sources on which parental beliefs about their role are founded; factors foreseen by parents that might hinder their involvement in that role; parents' preferred mode of receiving desired information relative to their assistance in their children's reading development; and existing variations in parental perceptions.