Sissil Lea Heggernes is an associate professor at Oslo Metropolitan University, where she teaches literature and culture. Her PhD study from 2021 explores how interaction with texts can foster English language students’ intercultural learning, with a particular focus on the role of picturebooks. She is currently involved in a project on how engagement with picturebooks and news reports can foster critical thinking in young learners. She has also published work on intercultural learning and the role of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the Norwegian English language curriculum. Heggernes has worked many years in primary and secondary schools. Her research interests include children’s literature, intercultural learning, critical thinking, reading, dialogic learning, and language teachers’ professional development.