Based on research that shows that parents play a vital role in raising a reader, Books as Bridges offers an effective and efficient way to use touchstone texts, including children’s picture books, to help create a common reading experience for the class that can be extended to the home. This practical book introduces four guiding principles—predictable structures, nonfiction, comprehension, and imagination and language play—describing each principle in terms of a series of strategies, which are highlighted by their use with specific touchstone books, and supported by lists of related books to consider.