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Critical Literacy
in Practice

On this page, you will find practical, easy to use strategies that help you bring critical literacy into everyday moments, through book selection, read-aloud practices, meaningful conversations, and partnerships with families.

Inclusive classrooms are not predicated on the equality of conditions or tools, but on equity, on having the tools, strategies, and approaches to support children’s development in ways that afford an equality of outcomes
(Souto-Manning et. al, 2019, p. 64).

Critical literacy becomes most meaningful when it is woven into the everyday life of early learning environments. The goal is not to add “one more thing,” but to make questions about power, voice, and equity part of how we choose books, share stories, and talk with children and families.

 

Research consistently shows that the books we select, and the ways we use them, shape children’s developing sense of identity, belonging, and justice (Cahill et al., 2021; Souto-Manning et al., 2019). Diverse, thoughtfully chosen books can interrupt bias and stereotypes, while limited or biased collections can quietly reinforce harmful messages (Gardner-Neblett et al., 2022; Wells et al., 2022).

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Educators often think the environments they provide are more diverse than they are. Thoroughly reviewing books, posters, and displays can make gaps more visible and easier to address (Souto-Manning et al., 2019).

Book Selection Criteria


You can start with a quick and simple book audit by asking:
(Gardner-Neblett et al., 2022; Weider, 2021)
 

  • How many books represent a range of racial, cultural, linguistic, gender, and family identities?

  • How many depict children and adults with disabilities in everyday roles?

  • How many books show religious and socio-economic diversity?

  • How many of these books show characters doing ordinary things (getting ready for school, playing, going to the park), not only during special events?

  • How many images or storylines rely on stereotypes (e.g., darker skin = villainy; poverty as a character flaw)?

  • How many books are written and/or illustrated by people from the communities represented in the story (#OwnVoices)?

  • How many stories include languages spoken by children and families in your program?

(A practical tool from Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, to support anti-bias book audits)

Critical literacy involves readers recognizing they bring with them certain backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs that will impact how they transact with a text
(Wells et al., 2022, p. 192).

Read Aloud Practices

 

Once books are on the shelf, how we read them with children matters just as much as which books we choose.

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The See → Notice → Feel → Wonder → Connect routine helps children look closely, think deeply, and link stories to their own lives. (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2022; Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2019; Wells et. al., 2022).

See → Notice → Feel → Wonder → Connect

See

  • What do you see on this page?

  • Who is in the picture?

  • What are they doing?
     

Notice

  • I notice this family speaks two languages.

  • I see lots of different skin tones.

  • I notice only boys are playing in this part of the story.
     

Feel

  • How do you feel when you look at this page?

  • How do you think this character might feel right now?

  • Does anything here make you feel happy, sad, or worried?
     

Wonder

  • I wonder why no one in this story is Black.

  • I wonder why the grown-ups are making this rule.

  • I wonder if this is fair for everyone.
     

Connect

  • Does this happen in our community?

  • Does this family remind you of your family or a family you know?

  • Have you ever seen or felt something like this in your own life?

(A quick-reference version of this routine for use during read-alouds and play.)

In dialogic reading, the adult helps the child become the teller of the story. The adult becomes the listener, the questioner, the audience for the child
(Whitehurst, n.d., para. 7).

Dialogic Reading for Critical Literacy

 

Dialogic reading is an interactive way of sharing books where children take the lead in talking and meaning making, while educators listen, prompt, and respond. Instead of the educator “delivering” the story, the child becomes the storyteller, and the educator supports them with open-ended questions, feedback, and rich language (Pillinger & Wood, 2013; Whitehurst, n.d.).

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The pedagogical foundation of dialogic reading, the PEER sequence (Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, Repeat) and CROWD prompts (Completion, Recall, Open-ended, Wh- questions, Distancing), can be intentionally adapted to invite children to analyse images and question the messages inside book.  Effectively questioning means choosing prompts that fit the moment, align with social justice goals, and invite children into thoughtful, meaningful conversation. Doing this, educators support the benefits of dialogic reading for vocabulary and comprehension (Pillinger & Wood, 2013; Whitehurst, n.d.) while also creating opportunities for critical literacy.

The PEER Sequence

 

​The PEER sequence guides the educator’s interaction through four simple steps:
(Pillinger & Wood, 2013; Whitehurst, n.d.)

PEER Step
What it Asks
Example
P - Prompt
Prompts the child to say something about the picture or the story.
“Why do you think only one kind of family is shown in this book?”
E - Evaluate
Evaluates the child’s response with affirmation and curiosity.
“You noticed the Black character is always the villain. That’s an important observation.”
E - Expand
Expands the child’s response by rephrasing it with new or information or by adding a different perspective.
“Sometimes books show Indigenous regalia as ‘costumes,’ but for many Indigenous people these are sacred. Let’s look at a book by an Indigenous author to learn more.”
R - Repeat
Repeats an import idea to reinforce learning, or revisits it in later readings.
“Last time you said girls could be leaders too - what do you notice in this book?”

CROWD Prompts

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CROWD prompts help guide the kinds of questions educators ask during dialogic reading:
(Pillinger & Wood, 2013; Whitehurst, n.d.)

CROWD Prompt
What it Asks
Example
Completion
Invites children to complete or extend an idea.
“The story is starting to show something important about the character’s relationships. What are you noticing?”
Recall
Asks the child to remember something from the story.
“Earlier, the boy said he couldn’t wear pink. Why do you think he said that?”
Open-Ended
Asks the child to look closely and describe details.
“What are you noticing on this page.”
Wh- Questions
Asks who, what, when, where, why, or how.
“Who is missing from this community picture?”
Distancing
Connects the story to the child’s world.
“Has anything like this happened in your community?”

(A tool to support interactive, equity-centred read-alouds.)

Educators “co-construct curriculum meaning making as co-learners, co-researchers, and co-imaginers of possibilities alongside and in relationship with children”
(Makovichuk et al., 2014, p. 6).

Critical Literacy Conversations

 

Critical literacy conversations do not need to be formal or planned. They often show up in ordinary moments such as story time, while children play, or when a child notices something in a picture. The goal is simply to help children look closely, think deeply, and talk about equity, feelings, and representation.

Compare Different Versions of a Story

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Children naturally notice differences. Comparing two versions of the same story helps them see how authors make choices and how stories change depending on the storyteller.

​​A simple example:

You can ask:

  • “How are these stories different?”

  • “Which version feels more equitable?”

  • “Why do you think the wolf tells the story this way?”

  • “What do we learn when we hear more than one side?”
     

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“Literacies are not neutral, nor is teaching”
(Souto-Manning & Yoon, 2018, p. 49).

This helps children understand that stories reflect the author’s perspective (Wells et al., 2022; Souto-Manning & Yoon, 2018; Fornwald et al., 2021).

Interrogating Problematic Books

 

Many children’s books include ideas or images that can hurt or misrepresent certain groups of people. When you encounter problematic books, such as those with racist images, stereotypes, or stories taken from Indigenous communities without permission (Formwald et al., 2021), you do not always have to remove them. Instead, you can help children learn by naming what is harmful, asking thoughtful questions, and pairing the book with respectful #OwnVoices alternatives (Fornwald et al., 2021; Wells et al., 2022).

“Implementing critical reading and critical literacy with multicultural picturebooks counteracts single stories and stereotypes of cultures” 
(Wells et al., 2022, p. 192).

For example, Peter Pan includes harmful colonial portrayals of Indigenous characters, such as Tiger Lily, who is shown as exotic and silent (Fornwald et al., 2021). Well-known fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White also show gender stereotypes by portraying girls as quiet, passive, and needing rescue by men.

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Educators foster critical literacy through asking:
(Fornwald et al., 2021; Souto-Manning & Yoon, 2018)
 

  • Perspective: Whose story is centred? Whose is missing?

  • Tone: How do joyful illustrations distort historical realities

  • Power: What dynamics are ignored or minimized?

  • Impact: Who benefits from this narrative? Who is harmed?

  • Alternatives: What stories could counter this portrayal?

Engaging critically with these books also requires educators to “locate themselves;” to think about their own identities, experiences, and relationships to the communities they read about, as well as the land they teach on. This means acknowledging our “relationships to land, language, spiritual, cosmological, political, economical, environmental, and social elements in one’s life” (Brown, 2005, as cited in Fornwald et al., 2020, p. 16). This reflection helps educators make more intentional, culturally grounded choices in their literacy practices.

(Questions to support conversations about equity, power, and representation)

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