Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds

by Ellen Riojas Clark, Belinda Bustos Flores University of Texas at Sa, Howard L. Smith, Daniel Alejandro González

Overview

While there are volumes that fall into the category of children’s literature, there appears to be relatively few that explore the needs of bilingual learners and the linguistic and sociocultural context of Latino children’s literature. This volume makes a needed contribution by addressing the social, cultural, academic, and linguistic needs of Latino bilingual learners who are still underserved through current school practices. We aim to conceptualize different forms of social knowledge so that they can serve as cultural resources for learning, acquiring knowledge, and transforming self and identity. This volume presents a balance of theory, research, and practice that speak to authentic multicultural Latino literature and helps ensure its availability for all students. The intended outcome of this volume then is to create a heightened awareness of the cultural and linguistic capital held by the Latino community, to increase Latino students’ social capital through the design of critical pedagogical practices, and for the formulation of a new perspective, that of Latino multicultural literature for children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475814910
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/25/2015
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Ellen Riojas Clark, PhD is Professor Emerita of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research examines self-concept, teacher identity, ethnic identity, efficacy, and Latino cultural studies.

Belinda Bustos Flores, PhD is a Professor and Chair of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research focuses on teacher development including self-concept, ethnic identity, efficacy, beliefs, teacher recruitment/retention, high stakes testing, and family cultural knowledge. Flores is founder of the Academy for Teacher Excellence.

Howard L. Smith, PhD is an Associate Professor of Bicultural Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Smith conducts research and publishes in the areas of biliteracy, family literacy, and multiculturalism.

Daniel Alejandro Gonzaléz, MA is a cultural researcher and ethnographic filmmaker from San Antonio, TX. His research examines identity formation in bicultural settings, inclusion and organizational structures in educational settings and communities in low-income areas. He has consulted and collaborated with organizations including public school districts, Academy for Teacher Excellence, NASA, Avance Inc., and others.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Literature in the Lives of Latino Children
Alma Flora Ada

Preface: Derrumbando Fronteras/Breaking Boundaries
Ellen Riojas Clark and Belinda Bustos Flores

Acknowledgments

Part I. Framing the Discussions: Theory and Rationale
Chapter 1: Multicultural Latino Children’s Literature: A Tool to Enrich the Lives and the Learning of Latino Bilingual Learners
Ellen Riojas Clark and Belinda Bustos Flores
Chapter 2: Exploring the Traditions of Latino Children's Literature: Beyond Tokenism to Transformation
Howard L. Smith, Belinda Bustos Flores, and Daniel A. González

Part II. Multicultural Children’s Literature Representing Latino’s Realities
Chapter 3: Beyond Calaveras and Quinceañeras: Fostering Bilingual Latino Students’ Identity Development with Culturally Relevant Literature
Jamie Campbell Naidoo and Ruth E. Quiroa
Chapter 4: Cruzando Fronteras: Negotiating the Stories of Latino Immigrant and Transnational Children
Patricia Sánchez and Maité Landa
Chapter 5: Using Children’s Literature to Understand Values, Traditions, and Beliefs
within Latino Family Systems
Mari Riojas-Cortez and Raquel Cataldo
Chapter 6: Culturally Relevant Literature for Latino Children in the Early Childhood Classroom
Ysaaca Axelrod and Cristina Gillanders

Part III. Multicultural Literature in the Content Areas: Language Arts, Social Studies,
Science, and Mathematics
Chapter 7: Embracing the Complexity of Language: Bringing all Forms of Knowledge into the Language Arts through Latino Children’s Literature
Christina Passos DeNicolo
Chapter 8: En el Aquel Entonces y Hoy en Día: Using Latino Children’s Literature to Situate Social Studies Education
Mary Esther Huerta and Carmen Tafolla
Chapter 9: Dichos y Adivinanzas: Literary Resources that Enhance Science Learning and
Teaching in the Bilingual Classroom
María Guadalupe Arreguín-Anderson and José Escalante Ruiz
Chapter 10: Tiempo y Cultura: Exploring Latino Stories through Mathematics
Carlos LopezLeiva and Yoo Kyung Sung

Part IV: Multiple Modes of Multicultural Children’s Literature
Chapter 11: Cultural Multiliteracies Integrating Technology in Latino Children’s Literature
Lucila Ek, Sonia Sánchez, and Myria Jimena Guerra
Chapter 12: Latino Children’s Literature in Picturebook Format
Miriam Martinez, Nancy L. Roser, Angie Zapata, and Erin Greeter
Chapter 13: Técnica Con Safos: Visual Iconography in Latino Picture Books As Tools for
Cultural Affirmation
Lettycia Terrones
Chapter 14: Latino Children’s Literature and Literacy Practices as Social Imagination: Becoming a Culturally Efficacious Educator
Belinda Bustos Flores, Ellen Riojas Clark, and Howard L. Smith

Part V: Fuentes de Recursos
Chapter 15: Realizing and Capitalizing on Our Cultural Literary Heritage: The Big Brown Elephant in the Room
Oralia Garza de Cortés

Postscript: Personal Foundations, Present Realities, and Future Productions
Daniel Alejandro González

Una Fuente de Recursos: Resources for Teachers and Children
1.List of Suggested Latino Children’s Books Latino
Daniel Alejandro González and Amanda A. Hernandez

2.Recommended Books in Spanish for Children
Oralia Garza de Cortés

3.PROFESSIONAL MULTICULTURAL RESOURCES
Daniel Alejandro González and Amanda A. Hernandez

Index
About the Contributors

Editorial Reviews

Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children is a must read for anyone interested in literacy teaching and learning today. The editors and scholar-educators who contributed chapters offer vital insights, theoretical rationale and practical applications that will help teachers, librarians, parents and others to draw on the rich linguistic and cultural resources of children and their communities through focused engagement with Latino children’s literature. This sorely needed volume provides valuable resources and will stimulate further discussion to strengthen literacy education in a pluralistic society.

Jesse Gainer

This book provides a valuable update to the field of Latino children’s literacy and literature, with particular emphasis on literature as a force for maintaining cultural and linguistic heritage. The editors go beyond discussing the literature itself, to discussing the broader sociolinguistic contexts of bilingual Latino children. Chapter Two provides a brief but lucid historical overview of Latino children’s books and the antecedents for those works. Each chapter ends with valuable resources such as checklists and discussion questions to help librarians and faculty integrate authentic Latino children’s literature into their practices.

Denice Adkins

Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children is detailed and scholarly, with contributions from a wide variety of experts. This book finally meets the challenge of addressing a need that has been lingering for decades, the need for bilingual children's books. Anyone interested in education, family literacy, or children's literature will find a vast wealth of ideas all gathered together in a single volume. Highly recommended!

Margarita Engle

Given the growing Latino/a presence in our schools and nation, Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children could not have come at a better time. This treasure trove of insights, resources, and references fills an enormous gap in the field. Written by experts in bilingual education and children’s literature, this book provides teachers, librarians, families, and others with a valuable resource for making Latino/a children visible in our schools and society. It’s about time!

Sonia Nieto

★ 05/01/2016
A comprehensive professional development resource that centers on Latino children's literature and its inclusion and use in school settings. Divided into five parts and 16 chapters, the volume captures the significance of Latino children's books, their impact on bicultural and bilingual children, and the approaches that educators must take to use these materials critically. Themes such as bilingual learners, selection criteria, transnationalism, counternarratives, and digital literacies are broadly presented, as well as the importance of challenging tokenism and stereotypes and incorporating Latino children's books in language arts, social studies, science, and math curricula. Each chapter includes a theoretical framework, an application of theory section, and references, discussion questions, activities, and further professional reading. Introductory lists of Latino children's books, titles in Spanish for children, and online resources are appended. This work positions this literature in a sociocultural, historical, and political context that successfully brings theories to praxis and always encourages educators to keep in mind the bicultural and bilingual young readers of these books. A great companion to Dana L. Fox and Kathy G. Short's Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature and the works by theorist and educator Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings. VERDICT An important volume for a variety of audiences: educators—including those teaching non-English speakers—education and library school professors and students, book reviewers, and librarians.—Sujei Lugo, Boston Public Library, MA

School Library Journal