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

by Ellen Riojas Clark, Belinda Bustos Flores, Daniel Alejandro González, Alma Flor Ada (Contribution by), Genevie C. Rodríquez-Quiñones (Contribution by)

Overview

Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds 2nd Edition makes a needed contribution to the field of children's literature by addressing the social, cultural, academic, and linguistic needs of bilingual learners who continue to be underserved through current school practices. This 2nd edition presents a balance of theory, research, and practice. The authors conceptualize different forms of social knowledge that can serve as cultural resources for acquiring knowledge and transforming self and identity. This volume creates a heightened awareness of the cultural and linguistic capital held by the Latino community. The design of critical pedagogical practices enhances Latino students' academic, cultural and social capital . Unique in this volume is the artwork that reflects the experiences of the Latino community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538195512
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/18/2025
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jamie Campbell Naidoo, PhD, is endowed associate professor at the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies.

Table of Contents

Preface: Derrumbando Fronteras/Breaking Boundaries
Ellen Riojas Clark and Belinda Bustos Flores
Foreword: Literature in the Lives of Latino Children
Alma Flor Ada
Acknowledgments
Part I. Framing the Discussions: Theory and Rationale
1 Multicultural Latino Children's Literature: Enriching the Lives and the
Learning of Latino Bilingual Learners
Ellen Riojas Clark, Belinda Bustos Flores, and Genevie C. Rodríquez-Quiñones
2 Exploring the Traditions of Latino Children's Literature: Beyond Tokenism to Transformation
Howard L. Smith, Belinda Bustos Flores, Daniel A. González, and Diana Estrada
Part II. Multicultural Children's Literature Representing Latino Realities
3 Beyond Candy Skulls and Latino Celebrations: Empowering Bilingual Latino Students' Identity Development with Diverse Culturally Relevant Literature
Jamie Campbell Naidoo and Ruth E. Quiroa
4 Cruzando Fronteras: Negotiating the Stories of Latino Immigrant and Transnational Children
Gilberto P. Lara, Patricia Sánchez, Janeth Martínez-Cortes, and Maité Landa
5 Using Children's Literature to Understand Values, Traditions, and Beliefs within Latino Family Systems
Mari Riojas-Cortez and Raquel Cataldo
6 Using Culturally Sustaining 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
7 Embracing the Complexity of Language: Bringing All Forms of Knowledge into the Language Arts through Latino Children's Literature
Christina Passos DeNicolo
8 Día de Muertos: Authentic Cultural Representation in Children's Literature
Cecilia Perfecto
9 Dichos y Adivinanzas: Literary Resources that Enhance Science Learning and
Teaching in the Bilingual Classroom
María Guadalupe Arreguín and José Augustín Ruiz-Escalante
10 Tiempo y Cultura: Exploring Mathematics through Latino Stories
Carlos A. LópezLeiva and Yoo Kyung Sung
Part IV. Multiple Modes of Multicultural Children's Literature
11 Cultural Multiliteracies: Integrating Technology with Latino Children's Literature
Sonia N. Sánchez, Lucila D. Ek, Myriam Jimena Guerra, and Genevie C. Rodríquez-Quiñones
12 Técnica Con/Safos: Visual Iconography in Latino Picture Books as a Tool for Cultural Affirmation
Lettycia Terrones
13 Latino Children's Multicultural Literature and Literacy Practices as Social Imagination: Becoming a Culturally Efficacious Educator
Belinda Bustos Flores, Ellen Riojas Clark, Howard L. Smith, and Kenya Vargas
14 Cultivando Historias, Voces, y Raíces through Community Cultural Wealth and Oral History
Christian Valdez and Cori Salamerón
Part V. Dimensions of Cultural Heritage and Literacy
15 Latino Children's Literature: Iluminando el Significado de Nuestras Vidas y Cultura
Daniel Alejandro González and Claudia Treviño García
16 Una Fuente de Recursos: A Literary Guide for Children, Parents, and Educators
Daniel Alejandro González, Claudia Treviño García, Oralia Garza de Cortés, and Amanda A. Hernández
Index
About the Contributors

Editorial Reviews

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 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

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

A comprehensive professional development resource that centers on Latino children’s literature and its inclusion and use in school settings. . . .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. . . .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.” —School Library Journal

“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, director of the Tomás Rivera Children's Book Award, Associate Professor of Literacy Education, Texas State University

“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, Associate Professor, School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, University of Missouri

“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, Professor Emerita in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“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, Newbery Honor-Winning author of "The Surrender Tree/El Árbol de la Rendición"

From the Publisher