Books Come Alive: Reading Aloud and Reading Along with Young Children is about using read alouds to promote empathy and the ability to think deeply in response to literature. Grounded in research and theory, the book explores how to ensure that read alouds have maximum instructional value to promote literacy and spark children's lifelong love of literature.

This book offers teachers information about book selection, how to plan for and conduct read alouds, and extend children's experiences. The book also includes a vetted and extensive compendium of high-quality books for read alouds, accompanied by a framework for teaching with those books.