Read alouds

I am not sure what to think about using read alouds in the classroom. I remember when I was a student, anytime a teacher read to me I would either read ahead or stop paying attention and wonder why I could not read the text to myself. Perhaps this strategy is more usefully employed by reading a text to students that students do not have in front of them. This way students are interested in what you are reading aloud as they cannot read ahead at their desk. I think this strategy is a useful way to bring text other than the textbook into the classroom. By reading an article or picture book that supports the content of the class, the teacher also demonstrates that what they are learning in the classroom is important outside of the classroom.
I am curious to see what kinds of texts are available for foreign languages that would relate to the content of the classroom. These texts would have to do with the culture of a given place or the vocabulary that is studied in a given unit. Also, what kinds of texts would be appropriate in a secondary classroom? Children's books are available in Spanish, but are there texts available that deal with the vocabulary being taught or the content of a unit? I would like to be able to use some Spanish language children's literature in the classroom, but I think it would be more effective if small groups each read a book instead of me reading a book aloud. This way they could pause over vocabulary that might be unfamiliar.