Written in an engaging style, this comprehensive text prepares K-12 teachers to address a wide range of contemporary social issues--such as violence, gender, war, terrorism, child labor, censorship, and disabilities--through multicultural children's literature. Each chapter includes sample lessons plans designed to encourage critical and creative thinking at the elementary and secondary levels and an annotated bibliography that makes it easy for teachers and librarians to choose multicultural children books that address specific critical issues. Key features of this book include: (1) The evolution of multicultural children's literature is covered, including discussion of controversies and issues around its definitions and uses; (2) "Reflection Questions for the Teacher" provide readers with practical techniques they can use as they prepare lessons around a given critical issue; (3) "Sample Response Lessons" demonstrate how to address critical issues using multicultural literature in K-12 classrooms; and (4) An "Annotated Bibliography" at the end of each chapter lists specific multicultural children's books organized around each critical issue. This book contains: Part I: Taking a Critical Issues Approach includes: (1) Introduction to Multicultural Children's Literature: A Critical Issues Approach; (2) The Essentials and Foundations of Multicultural Children's Literature; (3) Choosing Books and Reading Critically; Part II: Exploring Issues in Multicultural Children's Literature: (4) Responding to Censorship, Book Banning, and Controversies; (5) Gender, Sexuality, and Equity; (6) Understanding or Justifying Violence; and Part III: Realities in Life and Multicultural Children's Literature: (7) War, Terrorism, Justice, and Freedom; (8) Prejudice, Bullying, Abuse, and Other Challenging Situations; (9) Disabilities and the Special Child; (10) Influences of a Digital World. This book also contains: Preface; Glossary; Index; About the Author; and About the Contributing Author.