The purpose of this article is to explore the evidence suggesting the effectiveness of literacy instruction through communicative and visual arts, according to Flood, Heath, and Lapp (1997). Visual arts includes everything from dramatic performances to comic books to television viewing. The communicative arts, such as reading, writing, and speaking, exist as integrated elements in the visual arts. These editors argued that using visual arts in literacy instruction motivates students to become involved in the communicative arts. By taking visual arts away from the communicative arts in the classroom, schools would grow away from the fundamental skills that adults need to function in society. [For related ERIC Digest, see ED477612.]