Valuing the Lives and Experiences of English Learners: Widening the Landscape of Children's Literature

This article explores the current landscape of children's picture books in terms of the diversity represented, how having a range of diverse populations authentically depicted in picture books impacts culturally and linguistically diverse students, the importance for teachers to seek out culturally relevant literature, and ways that ideologies of literacy transmitted through picture books impact English learners' (ELs') academic success. The authors suggest that books must offer ELs authentic views of all cultures represented in schools and discuss culturally relevant literature and its uses in the classroom. The article presents three pedagogical lenses teachers can explore and incorporate into their curricula to build on their ELs' cultural capital in the classroom: multicultural, multilingual, and strategic. Specific curricular ideas, including pre-, during-, and postreading strategies, are included as are lists of suggested titles for classroom use.