The importance of reading in curriculum for gifted students is emphasized in the digest which also examines reading curriculum strategies. Highly able readers are seen to have needs for specific assistance in developing more complex skills in choosing books and materials for particular purposes, and in applying learning to real-life problems. Components of superior reading curricula should include language-related strategies, context-related strategies, meaning-related strategies, and reasoning-related strategies. The types of books which present complex concepts in interesting and unusual ways are advocated as particularly valuable for gifted youth. It is further suggested that books for gifted readers be judged on the quality of language, substantiveness of content, and complexity of structure. The potential benefit of carefully chosen and applied software in the reading curriculum is noted. (CL)