"In this innovative and engaging text, Vivian Maria Vasquez draws on her own classroom experience to demonstrate how issues raised from everyday conversations with pre-kindergarten children can be used to create an integrated critical literacy curriculum over the course of one school year. The strategies presented are solidly grounded in relevant theory and research. The author describes how she and her students negotiated a critical literacy curriculum; shows how they dealt with particular social and cultural issues and themes; and shares the insights she gained as she attempted to understand what it means to frame ones teaching from a critical literacy perspective. New in the 10th Anniversary EditionNew section: "Getting Beyond Prescriptive Curricula, the Mandated Curriculum, and Core Standards" New feature: "Critical Reflections and Pedagogical Suggestions" at the end of the demonstration chaptesrNew Appendices: "Resources for Negotiating Critical Literacies" and "Alternate Possibilities for Conducting an Audit Trail" Companion Website: narratives of ways in which the audit trail has been used as a tool for teaching and learning; resources on critical literacy including links to other websites and blogs; podcast focused on critical literacy and young children"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Creating spaces for critical literacy -- Getting started : setting the scene -- The French caf�e -- Our friend is a vegetarian -- Save the Beluga -- We know how McDonald's thinks -- A look back over the year.