There are often understudied interactions between how illustrations create stories that 

interact with verbal texts. The rise of the graphic novel and visual narratives is opening new 

lines of critical inquiry to literary boundaries and contesting the disciplinary terrain of what is 

literature. However, even within these trending fields, where the visual and literary worlds 

are represented, critics have noted the stark under representation of the multiculturalism and 

diversity of experience by people of color. The same holds true in the publication of children's literature by and for diverse populations.

The presence of Chicanas in authorship roles and as navigators of children's imaginative kingdoms remains largely invisible among children's literature and scholarship. This chapter examines how text and image interact in children's literature written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez to demonstrate how she uses the visual and literary arts as an embodied practice to rewrite the cultural histories of historically underrepresented communities.