Images of childhood and the implied reader in young children's information books

Abstract

AbstractImages of childhood are ideas and expectations of childhood and children, and are reflections of individual perception and cultural ideologies. In writing children's books, authors draw on their conscious and unconscious thoughts of childhood to create an implied reader. In this paper I investigate images of childhood through examination of the portrayal of the implied reader in a selection of information books, a genre that is often overlooked for beginning readers. Three books of various sub‐genres, topics and presentation styles were examined for images of childhood and the child in the text and illustrations. Some images include childhood in formal education, the child as a co‐constructor, the child as a cultural reproducer, and childhood as a time of innocence and play. The construct of the implied reader shapes the reader and the reading experience, and is thus an element of the power of the text; awareness of the implied reader and the real reader response can help in teaching young children to read both with and against the text. When selecting information books, attention to their images of childhood as well as to the quality of the information they provide, will help to optimise young children's early reading experiences.