Building Critical Reading and Critical Literacy with Picturebook Analysis

Through juxtaposing images and text, picturebooks have the unique power to facilitate critical reading and critical literacy. This article presents three analytical approaches to develop critical reading and critical literacy skills through picturebooks: (1) critically analyzing broad representation, (2) critical visual analysis, and (3) analyzing voices and perspectives in picturebooks. Through approaches like these, teachers can use picturebooks to craft critical classrooms.