The purpose of this paper is to guide the process of selecting meaningful books to use in pre-K-6 classrooms. With thousands of children's books being published each year, it is difficult for teachers to select which ones hold the most potential to inspire students towards a life time of reading pleasure and purpose. This paper outlines selection criteria and provides lesson examples grounded within past and current pedagogical research. The paper includes the following appendices: (1) Teaching the Book: K is for Kissing a Cool Kangaroo. Andreae, G. (2002); (2) Teaching the Book: Way Out in the Desert. Marsh, T. J., & Ward, J. (1998); (3) Teaching the Book: Runaway Pumpkin. Lewis, K. (2003); (4) Teaching the Book: I Survived: The Nazi Invasion, 1944. Tarshis, L. (2014); (5) Teaching the Book: The Nine Lives of Travis Keating Maclean, J. (2008); and (6) Teaching the Book: Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn by Herge (/erg/) pen name of Gorges Remi, Brussels, Belgium (1943c).