This paper presents a pragmatic way of introducing pre-service teachers to multiple literacies and critical literacy through children's-literature-based engagements. The concepts of multiple literacies and critical literacy are reviewed, and their interrelationship is explained. Two instructional engagements, which connect theory to practice through children's books, are then discussed in detail. This paper argues that the instruction of multiple literacies and critical literacy is aligned with the definition of literacy as multiple social practices, which should be examined critically. In addition, the utilization of children's books provides a feasible way to help such instruction take root in the classroom.