Celebrating Our Cuentos: Choosing and Using Latinx Literature in Elementary Classrooms by Dr. Julia López-Robertson is a new title from Scholastic Professional that highlights the importance of infusing our classrooms with literature by a range of authors and illustrators that reflect our students’ experiences and provide a window into the cultures of people from Spanish speaking countries and communities.
Julia López-Robertson, Ph.D., is a Professor of Instruction and Teacher Education at the University of South Carolina. Her scholarly interests are built on a commitment to children, families, and educators to advance understandings of bilingual and multilingual students to further equitable teaching for all children.
In this title for educators of grades K–6, Dr. López-Robertson provides teachers, administrators, and anyone working with children and families with helpful information that builds an understanding of what authentic literature is, why it is important, and how to use it as a teaching partner. Topics addressed in the book include identifying quality literature by checking for bias, stereotypes, and cultural and linguistic authenticity. From there, Dr. López-Robertson explores how to put the literature to work in whole-class lessons, read-alouds, small-group discussions, and writing projects to nurture engaged readers.
“This book is a gift! Through cuentos and photographs from her own experiences as a teacher, daughter, sister, and mother, Julia López-Robertson illuminates the joy, brilliance, and beauty of Latinx literature. It is a must-read for teachers who want to affirm the cultural and linguistic identities of their bilingual students, and transform their teacher to foster comprehension, critical thinking, and cultural empathy for all students,” says Jennifer D. Turner, Associate Professor in Reading Education, The University of Maryland.
To learn more about Celebrating Our Cuentos, click here.
To read an article by Julia López-Robertson about how to choose culturally authentic children’s literature for your classroom, click here.
