Iliana Alanís – författare

This timely book offers preschool and kindergarten teachers practical, research-based strategies for how to use culturally relevant picture books to discuss social justice and equity with young children. It includes activities and dozens of recommended children’s books that will help students understand their own social, cultural, and linguistic identities.Challenging outdated literacy norms, this book calls on educators to center picture books about children’s different identities, talents, and lived experiences. The authors show how picture books rooted in social justice and equity become powerful tools for fostering critical thinking, empathy, a sense of belonging, and meaningful dialogue. Through shared reading and thoughtful discussion, teachers can help young learners explore big ideas, such as fairness, culture, and identity.Now is the time to place powerful stories in the hands of young learners. Let this book be your guide to cultivating classrooms where equity is not just an ideal, but a daily reality.Book Features:Provides in-depth descriptions of effective classroom strategies for using picture books with social justice content and images.Alleviates teachers’ potential discomfort around social justice and equity by using children’s literature to identify and discuss unfair practices in the world.Highlights the capacity for young children to engage in critical conversations when developing their notions of themselves and the world they live in.Includes annotated lists of recommended children’s picture books, websites, podcasts, and videos.

This timely book offers preschool and kindergarten teachers practical, research-based strategies for how to use culturally relevant picture books to discuss social justice and equity with young children. It includes activities and dozens of recommended children’s books that will help students understand their own social, cultural, and linguistic identities.Challenging outdated literacy norms, this book calls on educators to center picture books about children’s different identities, talents, and lived experiences. The authors show how picture books rooted in social justice and equity become powerful tools for fostering critical thinking, empathy, a sense of belonging, and meaningful dialogue. Through shared reading and thoughtful discussion, teachers can help young learners explore big ideas, such as fairness, culture, and identity.Now is the time to place powerful stories in the hands of young learners. Let this book be your guide to cultivating classrooms where equity is not just an ideal, but a daily reality.Book Features:Provides in-depth descriptions of effective classroom strategies for using picture books with social justice content and images.Alleviates teachers’ potential discomfort around social justice and equity by using children’s literature to identify and discuss unfair practices in the world.Highlights the capacity for young children to engage in critical conversations when developing their notions of themselves and the world they live in.Includes annotated lists of recommended children’s picture books, websites, podcasts, and videos.

This book takes the reader through a journey into the practical and theoretical aspects of partner-based learning in bilingual early childhood environments. The authors begin by presenting compelling arguments for the significance of this approach noting the parallels between partner-based collaborative learning and developmentally appropriate practices for young learners. Part 1 weaves in tenets of a LatCrit perspective to highlight intersections of a social justice orientation to learning and teaching and a collaborative approach that capitalizes on Latinx bilingual children’s linguistic repertoire and cultural capital. The authors unpack the translingual partner construct unveiling the potential of bilingual children as meaning-makers and language problem solvers. Part 2 contextualizes the concept of translingual partner interactions in two early childhood classrooms. Then, to bridge theory and praxis, Part 3 reveals what the authors have learned after thousands of observations, conversations, and interactions with bilingual teachers and young learners throughout the United States. Readers will find considerations for the design of partner-based interactions. Specifically, the authors address criteria such as language proficiency, academic strengths, and learning styles. The authors include general guidelines for effective partner collaboration to assist teachers in the assessment of partner-based work. To bring the discussion full circle, the authors close with an example of a real-life partnership. Chicano leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chávez’s partnership is portrayed in terms of their agency, impact, and connectedness with the community.

This book takes the reader through a journey into the practical and theoretical aspects of partner-based learning in bilingual early childhood environments. The authors begin by presenting compelling arguments for the significance of this approach noting the parallels between partner-based collaborative learning and developmentally appropriate practices for young learners. Part 1 weaves in tenets of a LatCrit perspective to highlight intersections of a social justice orientation to learning and teaching and a collaborative approach that capitalizes on Latinx bilingual children’s linguistic repertoire and cultural capital. The authors unpack the translingual partner construct unveiling the potential of bilingual children as meaning-makers and language problem solvers. Part 2 contextualizes the concept of translingual partner interactions in two early childhood classrooms. Then, to bridge theory and praxis, Part 3 reveals what the authors have learned after thousands of observations, conversations, and interactions with bilingual teachers and young learners throughout the United States. Readers will find considerations for the design of partner-based interactions. Specifically, the authors address criteria such as language proficiency, academic strengths, and learning styles. The authors include general guidelines for effective partner collaboration to assist teachers in the assessment of partner-based work. To bring the discussion full circle, the authors close with an example of a real-life partnership. Chicano leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chávez’s partnership is portrayed in terms of their agency, impact, and connectedness with the community.

Reimagining Early Childhood Education for Dual Language Preschoolers: Enhancing Children’s Agency through Inquiry, Writing, and Reading introduces the Interdisciplinary Biliteracy Sequence (IBS), a framework designed to support bilingual learning in preschool classrooms. The authors share insights from a year-long research project where dual language teachers implemented the IBS with preschool emergent bilinguals. Through classroom examples, they illustrate how this approach integrates active exploration, knowledge-building, and biliteracy development. Emphasizing the power of play and multimodal learning, they highlight how educators can leverage children’s cultural and linguistic assets to foster meaningful learning.