diff --git a/lib/floe.rb b/lib/floe.rb
index 6cfe559e..c5d90d34 100644
--- a/lib/floe.rb
+++ b/lib/floe.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 require_relative "floe/workflow/choice_rule/data"
 require_relative "floe/workflow/context"
 require_relative "floe/workflow/item_processor"
+require_relative "floe/workflow/item_reader"
 require_relative "floe/workflow/intrinsic_function"
 require_relative "floe/workflow/intrinsic_function/parser"
 require_relative "floe/workflow/intrinsic_function/transformer"
diff --git a/lib/floe/workflow/item_reader.rb b/lib/floe/workflow/item_reader.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d78b0a19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/floe/workflow/item_reader.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module Floe
+  class Workflow
+    class ItemReader
+      include ValidationMixin
+
+      attr_reader :name, :resource, :parameters, :reader_config, :max_items, :runner
+
+      def initialize(payload, name)
+        @name          = name
+        @resource      = payload["Resource"]
+        @parameters    = PayloadTemplate.new(payload["Parameters"]) if payload["Parameters"]
+        @reader_config = payload["ReaderConfig"] || {}
+        @max_items     = reader_config["MaxItems"]
+
+        missing_field_error!("Resource") unless @resource.kind_of?(String)
+        invalid_field_error!("ReaderConfig.MaxItems", @max_items, "must be positive") if @max_items && @max_items < 0
+
+        @runner = wrap_parser_error("Resource", @resource) { Floe::Runner.for_resource(@resource) }
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/floe/workflow/states/map.rb b/lib/floe/workflow/states/map.rb
index e1af12cd..4c1618b4 100644
--- a/lib/floe/workflow/states/map.rb
+++ b/lib/floe/workflow/states/map.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def initialize(workflow, name, payload)
           @catch           = payload["Catch"].to_a.map { |catcher| Catcher.new(catcher) }
           @item_processor  = ItemProcessor.new(payload["ItemProcessor"], name)
           @items_path      = ReferencePath.new(payload.fetch("ItemsPath", "$"))
-          @item_reader     = payload["ItemReader"]
+          @item_reader     = ItemReader.new(payload["ItemReader"], name + ["ItemReader"]) if payload["ItemReader"]
           @item_selector   = payload["ItemSelector"]
           @item_batcher    = payload["ItemBatcher"]
           @result_writer   = payload["ResultWriter"]
diff --git a/spec/workflow/item_reader_spec.rb b/spec/workflow/item_reader_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bb20a99c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/workflow/item_reader_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+RSpec.describe Floe::Workflow::ItemReader do
+  let(:subject) { described_class.new(payload, ["Map", "ItemReader"]) }
+
+  describe "#initialize" do
+    let(:payload) { {"Resource" => "docker://item_reader:latest"} }
+
+    it "returns an ItemReader instance" do
+      expect(subject).to be_kind_of(described_class)
+    end
+
+    context "Missing a \"Resource\" field" do
+      let(:payload) { {} }
+
+      it "raises an exception" do
+        expect { subject }.to raise_error(Floe::InvalidWorkflowError, "Map.ItemReader does not have required field \"Resource\"")
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "with an invalid ReaderConfig" do
+      let(:payload) { {"Resource" => "docker://item_reader:latest", "ReaderConfig" => {"MaxItems" => -1}} }
+
+      it "raises an exception" do
+        expect { subject }.to raise_error(Floe::InvalidWorkflowError, "Map.ItemReader field \"ReaderConfig.MaxItems\" value \"-1\" must be positive")
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end