Critical Literacy, in my opinion, is the ability to read texts and be able to analyze, interpret and understand social inequalities that are present in society. Using this ability allows individuals to see the world in a more critical light and are able to challenge the norms that are set. This is important in teaching because educators are able to encourage students to scrutinize issues and critique the norms by demonstrating how these norms are not experienced by all members of society. One effective way of challenging these norms is by the use of non-mainstream children’s books that are available; reading these to the classroom and allowing students to understand it is a great way of getting them to gain that critical lens. One of the non-mainstream children’s book would be ‘Stella Brings the Family’ by Miriam B. Schiffer. She tells a tale of a girl, Stella, who has two dads who love her endlessly along with other family members. However, when her class has a Mother’s Day Celebration, the little girl is confused as to what she should do, but she finds a unique way to solve her issue. Schiffer writes a heartfelt story about …show more content…
The main one being Stella’s same-sex parents, others include Howie who, like Stella, comes from a same-sex couple (females) but his mothers are of different races; one mother is of an Asian descent while another is of an African descent. The book also shows children from single parent families, both of which seem to be single mothers, and finally, there was a classmate, Jonathan, who brought his grandmother to the celebration as his mother was away in the army. All these different representations that the book has shown inclusion, and the illustrations take it a step further with showing different races and cultures; for example, there is a Latino family and a mother who wears a traditional head