This article discusses the issue of the reading in classes of a foreign language. The article presents theoretical frameworks related to reading and the development of critical readers to analyze the activities of the course book “Hacia el Español, curso de lengua y cultura hispânica”, written by Fátima Cabral Bruno e Maria Angélica Mendoza, specially developed for Brazilian students. From the methodology proposed in the book investigated and the guidelines presented for the teachers, this paper analyses the criteria used in the preparation of the book and in the selection of the texts aiming at identifying the advantages and limits of the book when used by Spanish teachers towards the development of the students’ reading abilities of the Spanish as a foreign language.