School manuals to be used by teachers and students were established in Portugal and Brazil in the late 19 th century and were consolidated throughout the 20 th century as instruments/ objects of school culture. This text examines a school manual for use at the Normal Schools produced in Brazil in 1955-Lições de Pedagogia, 1º ano, by Aquiles Archêro Júnior-, which, in the requirements for reading, interacted with a manual produced in Portugal in 1949 and used in Brazil-A arte da leitura, by Mário Gonçalves Viana. This research focuses on the requirements for the teaching of reading at school and seeks to highlight how authors used knowledge that contributed to make reading a school knowledge.