Based on data from a longitudinal study of preservice teacher education conducted at a large midwestern university, this paper describes and appraises what prospective elementary teachers in two different teacher preparation programs were taught about textbooks, what they learned, and what they did with these lessons during student teaching. It is suggested that, rather than telling novices not to "teach by the book," teacher educators need to consider contextual constraints and the limits of beginners' knowledge and skills and teach beginning elementary teachers how to learn from using published curricular materials. These issues are explored by addressing four questions: (1) What did the teacher education programs convey about textbooks, planning, and curricular decision making? (2) What did the prospective teachers come to believe about the use of textbooks, about planning, and curricular decision making? (3) What did the student teachers do with textbooks and teachers' guides during student teaching? and (4) What should preservice elementary teacher education programs teach beginning teachers about textbooks and their role in planning and teaching? (Author/JD)