Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the research trends of early childhood and picture books using keyword network analysis.
 Methods To this end, based on the academic database, keywords from 1,195 academic papers related to early childhood and picture books published from 2001 to 2020 were collected, and data analysis was conducted by keyword network analysis (keyword appearance frequency, connection centrality, and mediation centrality).
 Results First, from 2001 to 2020, creativity and pro-social behavior keywords among early childhood and picture book-related keywords were all ranked high in appearance frequency, connection centrality, and mediation centrality. On the other hand, research trends, literature, picture book making, and reading interest keywords were analyzed higher in connection-centeredness and mediation-centeredness than in the frequency. Second, for network analysis by period of early childhood and picture book research, it was divided into 1st (2001-2010) and 2nd (2011-2020), and the frequency of keyword appearance was high in the order of creativity, language ability, language expression, and picture book reading. In addition, the first period showed a high frequency of language appearance such as story composition ability and story comprehension, and the second period showed a high frequency related to society and emotions such as emotional intelligence, view acceptance, and self-esteem. Keyword connection centrality was high in the first period, keywords related to language ability, picture book making, and picture book reading, and research trends and social emotion-related keywords were high in the second period.
 Conclusions Research trends related to early childhood and picture books show a tendency that studies related to the literary nature of picture books have been studied from various angles. The keywords that appeared in connection-centeredness and mediation-centeredness in this study were different by period in network analysis by period. It can be seen that this is an important subject for each period.