Of course, we need textbooks! It always pops up as one of the main issues when talking about quality of education. It is an essential part of credible and good education sector plans. It is often a large part of a country’s education budget, and a huge part of donor funding, including funds channeled through the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). In other words, it is recognized that in addition to the teacher’s role, a good textbook is one of the most effective elements in achieving quality learning objectives. And yet, both research evidence as well as school visits in many lower-income countries show persistent problems related to the availability of textbooks and their effective use in classrooms and at home. Isn’t this a big tragedy and a bit of a scandal? With all those funds and efforts, we are still not able to assure that the right books at the right price are available for all students and teachers at the beginning of each school year. The world is able to get cold beers, soft-drinks and cell phones to every corner of the world but we have not been able to do so with textbooks? When I was working as a donor in West Africa we had a huge budget for the provision of textbooks. And there I was: willing and ready, with good intentions and financial resources available, but no idea where to start. What policy to support, how to avoid corruption, how to deal with copyright issues and how to assure that the books you are buying through the government system are the right ones and are actually reaching the students? The crucial question that has yet to be answered is: How do we ensure that quality textbooks are available to all teachers and students in lower-income countries in a sustainable manner? GPE started with a Community of Practice Workshop on Getting the Right Books to the Kids to get a better inside scoop on the textbook chain in lower-income countries. Obviously, the devil is in the details of textbook policies, assessments, publishing and printing, procurement, acquisition and distribution procedures, textbook management systems and teacher training. What kind of support and technical assistance are we providing to Ministries of Education on these issues? To avoid the risk of wasting money, more focus will be needed to come up with good national textbook policies and strategies for procurement, distribution and management of textbooks. Moreover, we need to look at how textbooks are being used in the classroom. We should pay more attention to content, fonts, colors, spacing and reading principles within the books. How do teachers and pupils use these books in classrooms? Can kids take books home and how should textbooks be used in relation to other learning and reading materials? System reforms, better policies and strategies and improved aid effectiveness are not enough, though! There is a need for better up-to-date and reliable data on textbook availability and use in schools. There is a need to do more research on models of textbook provision that actual work and are cost-effective. And lastly, there is a need for a more targeted strengthening of capacity of all stakeholders within the book chain, including staff of technical and financial partners. Let’s continue–together with various GPE partners–to share more information and knowledge about textbooks. And let’s make sure that kids get the right books since it might well be one of the most effective ways to ensure that all students will be able to read and write!