My children love this book. The melodic rhymes put them at ease before bed. The story captures the tale of all the animals and ends with the farm falling asleep.
Critical Reading
A critical reading lesson in children’s literature would ask:
- What does a text say?
- What does a text do?
- What does a text mean?
You might point to the rhymes and children those. You may ask why an author used a certain word. You may ask about colors used by the illustrator. You may ask about why an author started in the morning and went through the night.
Critical Literacy
In critical literacy you would compare our fake and romanticized version of the farm with something like this:
Pigs confined in metal and concrete pens flickr photo by Farm Sanctuary shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license
or this
A lone hen escapes the battery cages flickr photo by Farm Sanctuary shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license
A critical literacy lesson would ask
What is the difference between where we think food comes from and where food comes from?
Where would animals be happier in the book or in our real life farms? Do animals have the right to be happy? Any rights? Who gets to decide?
You may even write “A Truth in Farming Book” or start an urban garden.
The Main Difference
In critical reading you are critiquing the author and the text. In critical literacy you are critiquing society and power. Not always the easiest thing to do while staying employed.
Speaking truth to power and critical pedagogy are shunned in schools.
Yet in today’s era when white nationalist have ascended into the White House; when Trump can claim for years that Barak Obama was born in Kenya; or that climate change is a hoax invented by China; when 66% of Republican voters falsely believe Obama is a Muslim (still); when President Trump refers to Bad Hombres, Nasty Women, and bans people from entering our country if they are Muslim but not Christian….
Then I have to ask, “Can we afford to not teach critical literacy in school?”
??Can’t wait to read!