The use of children's literature in the classroom can greatly enhance the core curriculum by supporting children's cognition, language, personality, social, aesthetic, and creative development. Preservice teachers often have difficulty conceptualizing a style of literature presentation that will provide optimum learning-stimulation, however, and the EXCEL (Expanding Children's Experiences through Literature) approach was conceived in response to this need. This three-pronged approach is aimed at drawing upon and expanding children's experiences, increasing students' interactions with oral and written language, and developing students' interests in literature while actively engaging them in literature experiences. The steps involved in EXCEL are (1) a prereading activity; (2) the reading, telling, or dramatization of a story; and (3) a postreading activity. EXCEL has proven very effective with children from preschool age through sixth grade and with normal as well as exceptional and multicultural populations. If children are to discover the joy of involvement in the world of books, it is important to make maximal use of their literature experiences. Only after finding excitement in books can children be expected to become more than nominally involved in reading. (AEW)