Thinking and asking authentic questions about nearby places, including ecosystems, can metaphorically be compared to reading the world as a text, linking local issues to global ones. The focus in this chapter is holistic pedagogies, which combine socio-ecological aspects of sustainable learning with opportunities for active communication. Drawing on and using vignettes from two case studies in the primary school years, we will analyze dimensions of socio-ecological literacies in relation to students’ opportunities for representation and agency. Collectively, the places used in the two case studies can be viewed as a wealth of resources, since these places already are and/or will be connected to the participating children’s experiences and identities in various ways. Relating educational settings to or positioning them within places that already are or are likely to be important to students’ lifeworlds is about power, not least the power of narratives about childhoods. This approach has therefore the potential to realize learning opportunities in which children are given the chance to represent themselves and their world through the use of multimodal literacy and drawing on nearby places.