Instructional Implications 
In our work, critically analyzing picturebooks centered on adoption, larger questions were raised regarding how families more generally are portrayed. Whether or not these representations are overtly discussed or highlighted in a particular book, children may internalize metanarratives about family based on them. Therefore, an important implication is for educators to attune to how families are portrayed in books that will be shared with students. We suggest applying a critical lens to books that may potentially be shared/available to students and asking, How are families portrayed in this book? What larger metanarratives of families are communicated? Who or what is not represented? These questions allow educators to take a critical lens to representations that may be taken for granted or assumed to be “common sense” (e.g., families have two parents).

However, it is important not to stop there. Teachers need to go beyond just asking these questions as they make book selections or plan places to stop for discussion. Before doing those things, the next step is to then connect to the students in your classroom. How might they see themselves, or not, in the book? How might they be impacted (positively, negatively, both) by the portrayals in this book? To make those connections, teachers must know about their students’ families. Most educators would agree that family engagement is important, but sometimes we make assumptions about the family constructions of our students. While we certainly are not advocating for invading a student’s privacy or overstepping boundaries, we do encourage teachers to not start with the default assumption that everyone has two biological parents and lives with them, for example. There are so many complexities in the ways in which families are made up, and by asking the questions above and connecting to the students in the classroom, we hope that each child both can see themselves in some books and also see other ways in which families exist, thus expanding their conceptualization of what it means to be a family. ​

References
Burke, A., & Zoch, M. (2023). Adoption as liminal space: Representations in children's picturebooks. Journal of Children’s Literature, 49(2), 2-55.
Dahlen, S. P. (2024). Transracially adopted Korean children in youth literature. Adoption and Culture, 12(1), 37-54.
Lewis, R. A. (2000). I love you like crazy cakes. (J. Dyer, Illus.). Little Brown Books for Young Readers.
Meese,R.L.(2012). Modern family: Adoption and foster care in children’s literature. The Reading Teacher, 66(2), 129-137.
Sun, L.(2021). Children of “a dream come true”: A critical content analysis of the representations of transracial Chinese adoption in picturebooks. Children’s Literature in Education, 52(2), 231-252.
Williams, V. (2016). Home at last. (C. Raschka, Illus.). Greenwillow Books.
Yi, J. (2021). Memoirs or myths? Storying Asian American adoption in picturebooks. Journal of Children’s Literature, 47(2), 22-34.
Zoch, M., & Burke, A. (2025). Adoption representation in picturebooks: a critical content analysis. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 24(2), 111-123. https://doi.org/10.1108/etpc-03-2025-0052 ​

Synopsis
Those who feel the same are kindred spirits. In 1845, Choctaw people gathered to help Irish people weather the potato famine. In 2020, an Irish community remembered the kindness of the Choctaw Nation and reached out to help tribal nations during the pandemic.  “An inspiring true pay-it-forward story that bridges two continents, 175 years, and two events in history—connecting Ireland, Choctaw Nation, Navajo Nation, and the Hopi Tribe.” 
Source: Charlesbridge Publishing  website ​

In times of uncertainty, we seek comfort and security, especially in places where we feel surrounded by love. Home is not just a physical space but metaphorically speaks to the values and relationships central to our sense of place in the world. Framing our use of children’s literature around Home encourages readers to reflect on values from which they can find the courage to dream and imagine new possibilities.  When we experience turmoil, reflecting on our values identifies the roots that ground us and give us a sense of security from which to reach out, dream, and act. 

The CLA Expert Class at the 2025 NCTE Convention in Denver is an opportunity for teachers and teacher educators to gain insights into the use of children’s literature through interactions with leading educators, authors, and illustrators. This session is an exciting opportunity to expand your engagements with literature and invite readers to reflect on the values to which they are loyal and from which they read, interpret, and write literature. 

In their newest collaborative picturebook, Home, Matt de la Peña and Loren Long explore the places, people, and feelings that create a sense of home and provide refuge in the face of instability, The lyrical text and vibrant images are a celebration of home in its many forms, but also a reminder that, even when  home is lost, we can find a harbor in love through the people who walk alongside us. 
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The powerful way in which the images and words interweave in this picturebook creates layers of meaning and interpretation. The lyrical nature of Matt’s reflections is matched by the emotion of Loren’s textured acrylic illustrations. Themes of resilience, healing, and connection are captured in the words and images around explorations of home as love and comfort that extend beyond four walls to the earth itself. Just as in their earlier collaboration, Love, this book tugs on reader’s heartstrings. 

Maham Khwaja is the author of The Home We Make, illustrated by Zainab Faidhi, in which a young Muslim girl and her family are forced to flee their home due to the violence of war. Told from a first-person perspective in free verse poems, the girl describes their long walk and their journey by sea to a refugee camp and eventually to a new land. Throughout this dangerous journey, the girl constantly wonders whether each new place is now home.
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This poignant portrayal of the longing for home captures the terror of displacement and the comfort of small tender moments. The harsh realities of refugee journeys are woven into loving interactions within the family and experiences of discrimination are contrasted with welcoming acts that temper the story’s bleaker moments. The digital illustrations are particularly effective in conveying details and events not mentioned in the poems and in conveying emotions through the girl’s expressive eyes. This picturebook is a moving and illuminating depiction of the journeys and emotions experienced by refugees.

Jason Chin’s most recent book, Hurricane (2025), explores how hurricanes form and how communities prepare for and respond to them. Last May, we had the privilege of interviewing Jason, during which he shared insights into his research and creative process for Hurricane, as well as his illustration work for Life After Whale (2024). Our interview will be published in the Fall 2025 issue of the Journal of Children’s Literature. We are excited for you to hear Jason Chin’s story and learn from his experiences at the CLA Breakfast at this NCTE Annual Convention!

The teachers in this study had a higher average frequency of print references while reading books that contain salient print features (M = 5.79) than while reading books that did not have these features (M = 1.28). This finding supports prior research that suggests these print features prime teachers (and students) to notice and talk about the print, a necessary interaction for early print knowledge development. It is important to note that teachers made these references after I asked them to read the books provided “as they normally would”--I never once indicated my interest in print features or print referencing. Therefore, salient print features are a potentially underutilized resource that naturally increase the amount of discussion about print. Looking at the data for specific features, teachers most frequently referenced Visible Speech and Environmental Print, salient features that appear in a book’s illustrations. Practicing teachers interested in increasing their students’ exposure to discussion about print may therefore want to incorporate books with these two features into their classroom read alouds and lesson plans as a means of naturally increasing their print references. ​

Multiple teachers utilized this instance of Environmental Print as an opportunity to clarify or introduce the name of the story’s narrator and second most important character. While such references may seem basic in nature, they are indicative of complex attempts to support students’ recall of character names, a comprehension-related learning target often included in early childhood standards.    
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Just like the teachers in my study, I encourage practicing educators to consider the ways in which their references about print features can embody a fascinating duality between print knowledge learning targets and complex connections to story comprehension related to events and characters. Due to this study’s findings that teachers naturally utilize such references, this recommendation is not burdensome or adding extra tasks to teachers’ already full plate. Rather, it is a call for teachers to reflect on the ways in which they are already referencing print and utilize their own professional experience and wisdom to make the most of their references by reaching two seemingly dichotomous but related instructional goals through purposeful text selection and targeted talk.

How to start? Utilizing Table 1, examine the books in your classroom library or favorite read aloud texts. Do they contain any of the nine print salient features listed in the table? Does your current read aloud text contain speech bubbles, Environmental Print, or other salient print features? How might you point these visually interesting features out to your students? If the salient print features relate to the story’s plot or characters, like the Environmental Print on the t-shirts in Snappsy, can you reference the print in a way that bridges an aspect of story comprehension for your young readers? See more practical ideas to increase complex print referencing in the CLA Take 5: Ponder and Plan text feature. ​

Conclusion
Due to their inclusion in recently published children’s books, salient print features are likely a pre-existing feature in early childhood and elementary read aloud texts that can easily be incorporated into existing book-related discussion. Adults' references to these interesting print features can simultaneously support children’s development of critical print-related early literacy skills and relate to aspects of story comprehension. By strategically and purposefully selecting print salient books like Snappsy for classroom reading activities, adults can embed a relatively easy yet proven way to heighten children’s attention to and interest in print into their daily classroom routines. ​

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, recognizing and supporting teachers who champion literacy is crucial. The Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award does just that—empowering passionate educators dedicated to advancing literacy instruction and fostering lifelong readers and writers. This award honors the legacy of Dr. Bonnie Campbell Hill, a renowned literacy leader and advocate by providing funding of $2,500 (plus a $150 Heinneman grant) for teachers to pursue professional learning that enriches their classrooms and communities.

The BCH award is designed to support outstanding literacy educators who seek to grow professionally, collaborate with peers, and implement innovative literacy practices. It grants recipients funding to engage in professional development opportunities, such as attending conferences like NCTE, participating in literacy initiatives, or conducting research that directly impacts teaching and learning. The goal is to sustain a cycle of learning where educators refine their pedagogical approaches and bring evidence-based strategies back to their students.

The foundation of this award aligns with current pedagogical and research-driven approaches to literacy education. It supports teachers in exploring:

• Mentorship and Coaching: Recognizing the power of teacher mentorship, recipients often use their funding to engage in collaborative learning communities and professional networks.
  
• Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Literacy Instruction: Encouraging teachers to integrate diverse texts and responsive teaching strategies to reflect the lived experiences of all learners.
  
• Inquiry-Based Learning and Assessment: Providing teachers with resources to study and implement authentic, student-centered literacy practices that prioritize meaning-making and critical thinking.
  
• Classroom-Based Research: Many awardees conduct action research, testing innovative strategies to improve reading and writing instruction while contributing to the broader field of literacy education.
  

Our vision for the blog stems from the continued need to support educators in integrating children’s literature into their teaching contexts, whether that be K-12 or university levels. Beginning in August 2025, we will feature two types of posts on the CLA Blog: 

Read This/Teach This
Read This/Teach This posts center on a recently published work of children’s literature. The posts provide a comprehensive review of the book as well as some ideas for integrating the text in a classroom setting. We hope that these posts will highlight books and teaching ideas that can be easily implemented in the classroom. 

Research Resource
Research Resource posts center on the practical applications of research in children’s literature. These posts will briefly present the findings of a research study and then present a specific teaching strategy or idea for implementing the research into practice. 

In upcoming weeks we will publish an example of each of these posts and invite you to consider submitting a post for publication during the 2025-2026 academic year. If you are interested in submitting one of these types of posts to the CLA blog, please contact us at: liz.nelson@uvu.edu ​

How does one take a collection of books ranging from nine hundred to one thousand submissions and narrow that number down to thirty titles? Let’s just say it’s no easy task, but one that seven educators took on during the publishing year of 2024.

For twenty-eight years, dedicated members of the Children’s Literature Assembly have served on the seven-member committee tasked with selecting thirty Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts (NCBLA).

The list of books is highlighted for readers in the Journal of Children’s Literature and Language Arts. The committee also presents the annual list for session attendees at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference and the Tucson Festival of Books.
All titles on the NCBLA list are works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry penned for children in grades K-8 and published in the previous calendar year. These selected children’s books must meet additional criteria, such as:

• Have an appealing format
  
• Be of enduring quality
• Meet generally accepted standards of quality for the genre in which they are written
• Meet one or more of the following criteria:
  • Deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language
  • Demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style
  • Invite child response or participation

With these criteria in mind, NCBLA committee members first read and evaluate books individually, then collaborate to vet each prospective title. The committee meets monthly throughout the year, sharing notable titles, discussing ways the books can be used in classrooms, and curating a list of the best of the best. This process is not an easy one, but it is rewarding, engaging, and fascinating to see which titles ultimately make the final list.

These titles are high-quality texts that promote language arts and offer a range of literacy-related instructional possibilities. Committee members hope that teachers, librarians, and parents find the list a useful tool when locating and using fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to share with young readers.

The thirty books were broken down into five categories/themes. Although many of the books could fit into multiple categories, the themes are designed to help teachers organize the titles, plan ways to use them, and share with as many readers as possible.
Now, to the exciting part. After countless hours of reading, thinking, sharing, and conferring, here is the 2025 Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts list of notable titles:

This past year has been an absolute joy serving as chair. This work would not have been possible without the dedication, hard work, and countless hours of reading put in by our incredible committee members. It was an honor and privilege to lead them in the journey of discovering thirty titles we believe will enhance, enrich, and entertain many classrooms across the country.