A Framework for Evaluating Children's Books About Poverty

Abstract

Enacting a class-sensitive pedagogy means disrupting negative discourses about social class and affirming the lives and experiences of children and families from poverty and the working class. One step that educators can take toward embracing a class-sensitive pedagogy is the inclusion of books with poor and working-class perspectives in the curriculum. This chapter describes a framework that educators can use to analyze and evaluate depictions of poor and working-class characters in books for children. This framework can support educators with selecting books that are respectful of and affirming to children from low-income families. In addition, the chapter offers book recommendations and approaches for integrating children's literature in elementary and middle grades classrooms.