ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how children's literature and the arts might be brought together to identify and respond to difficult social issues in world. It highlights some examples of how children's literature can be a vehicle for taking action to integrate the arts throughout the curriculum. Throughout history, the arts have provided humankind with ways to make and share meaning within and across communities. As cultures and technologies have changed and expanded, people continue to use visual arts, music, drama, dance, language, and other expressive modes to generate new ideas and pass them on to others. While language may be the central sign system in language arts classrooms, the arts are integral to the processes of expanding communication and supporting oral and written language learning. Children's literature can support students in becoming aware of the underlying assumptions that are operating in texts.
