When can we move beyond representation to liberation?
This question from a young Black girl moved a bestselling author to offer a vision for antiracist teaching that goes far beyond adding diverse texts in a classroom library. This book provides an actionable antiracist teaching framework and models how K-8 educators can create opportunities for transformative reading and discussions in classrooms. It offers 6 critical lenses that help educators adopt an antiracist teaching stance, spotlighting the importance of instruction built around love, joy, community, justice, and solidarity. Educators are invited to reflect on their instructional practices, dismantle ideologies that are barriers to students' critical and creative thinking, and cultivate identity-inspiring learning experiences where students can show up fully as themselves and recognize the full humanity of all people. This is what it means to move beyond representation to liberation. Chapters feature several children's books that center BIPOC characters and creators that provide prompts and pathways that guide teachers toward putting into action the six critical lenses at the core of the Antiracist Reading Framework - affirmation, awareness, authorship, atmosphere, activism, and accountability. It provides toolkits for students and teachers to use when selecting and reading books on their own. It also offers personal and insightful anecdotes, supported by research and scholarship, that illustrate the power of antiracist teaching in working toward equity, justice, and freedom; provides a clear and actionable guide for K-8 literacy educators including classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and librarians; encourages critical reflection, pausing to ask educators to examine their own identities and values, and how these influence their teaching; and guides educators toward selecting and teaching with books that center the lived experiences of BIPOC students. This book is a call to action.