What is Critical Multicultural Literature

This chapter offers preservice candidates and in-service teachers a portrait into a classroom context where one teacher: 1) identified the experiences and backgrounds of 20 culturally and linguistically diverse students, 2) used critical literacy as a theory to purposefully select critical multicultural literature grounded in the lives and experiences of her culturally and linguistically diverse third graders, and 3) used critical literacy and multimodal text types to enhance students meaning making and talk as they discussed social activism. Implications for practice and research are provided.