The curious case of seemingly incurious children

Abstract

English-language teachers are increasingly recognizing the pedagogical value of using children’s literature that authentically represents diverse multilingual learners, including children who have sought refuge. This study analyses representations of children who have experienced displacement and sought refuge in picture books. Framed by a critical multicultural perspective of children’s literature, critical refugee studies and critical race theory, the study investigates how children’s emotions and agency are represented in focal stories. Our findings suggest that, contrary to the complex intellectual and emotional ways children and youth process displacement, picture books about seeking refuge tend to represent child protagonists as incurious about why they are forced to flee. Such representations construct legally scripted narratives associated with refugee status that normalize war and violence. These narratives ultimately mask colonialism, imperialism and racism that contribute to refugee flight around the world. We discuss how policies for seeking refuge influence picture books and invite educators to critically evaluate literature for their classrooms, directly engage families to foreground generative perspectives and develop comprehensive multilingual environments that affirm learners’ agency