Ironically, adults control most of the world of children's literature: adults write the books; adults choose which books to publish; adults review the books, adults bestow the awards on books and adults purchase the books for bookstores, libraries, and their children. In this paradigm of adult control, children's opinions are often overlooked. The goal of this paper is to review the current literature on reader preferences, with the intent of understanding the intersection of the children, adults, and publishing constituencies. We hope this article will support teachers in engaging students with reading materials that will match their interests. (Contains 2 figures.)