Selected Picture Books Research Articles

Exploring the concept of <i>language awareness</i> in the Curriculum in English in Norway: discussing the potential of picture books for enhancing young learners’ language awareness

This exploratory article provides an introduction to language awareness and discusses the potential of picture books as a textual resource to enhance young learners’ understanding of how language works. The construct of language awareness is investigated and discussed according to its three main components: the cognitive, affective and social dimensions. It is argued that language awareness represents a holistic approach to language teaching and needs to be naturally integrated into teachers’ pedagogical practices. Furthermore, the article looks at how the last revision of the English subject curriculum in Norway, introduced in 2020, involves language awareness and how this concept is communicated. The curriculum seems to reflect a language learning theory that correlates strongly with the theoretical basis for a language awareness approach. It is noted that the teacher’s knowledge of language and engagement with language are crucial factors for facilitating discovery-oriented learning activities, which are considered critical to scaffolding learners’ engagement with language. Picture books are considered a valuable resource in this respect; the qualities that make this literary genre such a useful resource are outlined and reflected on. The article ends by presenting some selected picture books and exploring their potential for using them in the English classroom to promote learners’ engagement with language and hence, contribute to cultivating their language awareness.

Portrayal of Bullying in Selected Picture Books: A Content Analysis

Portrayal of Bullying in Selected Picture Books: A Content Analysis

그림책 만들기 중심 수업이 예비유아교사에게 주는 의미 탐색

Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of picture book-making-centered classroom experiences for pre-service early childhood teachers.
 Methods The subjective of this study were 39 pre-service early childhood teachers who took ‘Picture Book Seminar’ at a college in Seoul. The class was conducted for 15 weeks, focusing on a picture book making activities, and data were collected and analyzed through reflective journals and appreciation and evaluation reports written by the research participants.
 Results First, pre-service early childhood teachers expanded their knowledge of the objects, values, and charac-teristics of picture books. Second, pre-service early childhood teachers strengthened practical skills such as se-lecting picture books, reading picture books, and engaging in linked activities using picture books. Third, pre-service early childhood teachers developed a pleasant and positive attitude toward reading picture books, and gained ex-pectations and confidence in reading picture books.
 Conclusions The class centered on picture book making allowed the pre-service early childhood teachers to un-derstand the essential characteristics of picture books, and to create a classroom atmosphere that encouraged free exchange with literary works. The learner to become an active writer as well as a reader, thereby maximizing literary response. It had a positive effect on the teaching capacity of pre-service early childhood teachers' knowl-edge, skills, and attitudes toward picture books.

A teacher's choice: Preschool teachers’ selection and use of picture books for mathematics instruction

Preschool teachers’ selection and use of instructional materials play an important role in their provision of qualitative mathematics instruction. Picture books were recently shown effective for supporting early mathematical competencies. Picture book features further contributed to their effectiveness. The current study aimed to investigate teachers’ selection and use of picture books for mathematics instruction with special attention for their evaluation of picture book features. We also analyzed the contribution of teachers’ beliefs and children's age to teachers’ picture book selection and use. Sixty-six preschool teachers participated in an online interview about (a) their picture book use for (mathematics) instruction and (b) the domain-specific (i.e., numeracy) and general features they rate important when selecting a picture book for mathematics instruction. Teachers also filled in a questionnaire regarding their beliefs about mathematics and learning and teaching mathematics. Results showed that more than 90 % of the teachers used picture books for mathematics instruction. About 40 % used them at least once and maximum four times a week and 6 % used them on a daily basis. When selecting picture books for mathematics instruction, teachers rated general features more important than domain-specific features and features related to basic mathematical content more important than features related to complex mathematical content. Teachers’ instruction and scheme and formalism beliefs contributed to their preference for Arabic numerals and comparisons between quantities. Children's age was positively related to teachers’ preference for complex mathematical content. The limited focus on mathematical content when selecting and using picture books points to the importance of teacher professional development on the selection and use of picture books for enhancing early mathematical competencies.

Hidden Meanings: Researching Student-Teacher Intercultural Competency Using Multicultural Children's Literature

In modern society, future teachers need to be able to recognize the potential offered by multicultural children's literature in promoting intercultural values in children as well as to feel confident in their ability to choose authentic teaching materials. Three picture books (The Rabbits' Wedding, Morris Micklewhite, and the Tangerine Dress and And Tango Makes Three) and one illustrated story (The Story of Little Black Sambo) were selected for research of students’ intercultural competence. The general research aim was to research the intercultural competence of Teacher Education students using authentic works of multicultural children's literature, whereby the specific aims sought to explore: a) students’ attitudes about the appropriateness of the selected topics for lower elementary school teaching; b) students’ ability to recognize whether the text and illustrations of the selected picture books/illustrated story promote intercultural values (e.g., acceptance of diversity, equality, empathy); c) whether students are trained to recognize the controversial content in the selected picture books/illustrated story, d) student’ self-assessed readiness to address the selected topics in their future teaching; e) student’ self-assessed difficulty in recognizing the representation of intercultural values in the content of the selected picture books/illustrated story. The sample of participants included fifty-six fourth-year Teacher Education students (40 students from the University of Rijeka and 16 students from the University of Pula) during two consecutive academic years (2020/2021 and 2011/2022). The participants filled out a questionnaire that examined the concordance between the content of the selected titles and the promotion of intercultural values, the existence of controversial topics, and the appropriateness of addressing the selected topics in lower elementary school teaching as well as the students’ self-assessed abilities to implement the topics of the selected works in their future teaching and the difficulty of recognizing intercultural values in the selected works were explored. The majority of students recognized the controversial nature of the three selected picture books – the implicit advocacy of the rights and equality of marginalized groups (same-sex adoption, depiction of transgender people, marriage of people of different skin color). Almost two-thirds of the participants encountered difficulties in assessing the presence of intercultural values in the selected literary works.

DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT-ORIENTED PICTURE BOOK SELECTION SYSTEM THROUGH EMPLOYING THE MODIFIED DELPHI METHOD

The concept of "sustainable development" was proposed to re-examine the human development model. Initiated by the United Nations, education for sustainable development (ESD) has become an important tool for educators to achieve sustainable development. Although "Early Childhood Education" (ECE) is often taken as a starting point of ESD, the concept of sustainable development is difficult to integrate into ECE because of its unfamiliarity among teachers. Therefore, picture books can be used to bolster ESD in ECE. This research aims to construct an appropriate book selection guide system that can assist them in selecting picture books independently, objectively, and efficiently through a focus group and modified Delphi method. The guide system is based on three major aspects, covering 8 main guidelines and 21 sub-guidelines. A sustainable development-oriented picture book is defined as “a book that includes the core, values, and concept of sustainable development which can make readers aware of the balance between the environment, society and economy and that attempts to systematically explore problems, generate actions, and solve problems in relation to these three dimensions from a critical and global viewpoint." in this study. Keywords: education for sustainable development, early childhood education, Delphi Method, picture book

Selecting Picture Books for EL beginners in Panama: Tellability

AbstractTeachers spend a lot of time finding ‘just right’ picture books for their students. However, much of what is known about a book's difficulty level was developed with native English speakers. More needs to be developed with the distinctive characteristics of English Learners (ELs). This study reports on the selection of picture books to teach in an intensive week‐long intervention with Spanish‐speaking ELs in a low SES community in Panama. It applies the concept of tellability rather than readability. Tellability considers who is speaking about what to whom and in what circumstances. Novice teachers who were not fluent in Spanish learned to successfully select and instruct using carefully selected books for teaching English in science‐themed lessons. These teachers considered features of books that matched the ELs’ oral and written English abilities as well as matched specific language teaching strategies for EL beginners.

Comparative Analysis between Chinese and Western Picture Books for Children in Safety Education

From the perspective of early childhood safety education, this study takes the top 30 picture books for children in safety education from Dangdang and Amazon as the research object, and conducts a comparative analysis between Chinese and Western picture books from target age group, theme coverage, character type and content presentation. The results show that both Chinese and western picture books fail to provide a clear and reasonable target age group. They have a similar proportion in theme coverage, but the Chinese picture books show a high repetition in topic choice. They also share a similar preference of human and animals as character type while western picture books show a richer ethnic diversity. Case analysis of the six selected picture books shows a dominant use of fresh and bright colors for both despite some improper uses of colors in Chinese picture books; and a poor coordination between pictures and texts, such as small fonts and large proportion of texts for both and a rigid use of words in Chinese picture books. Content analysis reveals the challenges and differences in creating interestingness and avoiding preaching. Suggestions are also discussed.

그림책에 등장하는 아동의 이혼 적응 과정에 대한 분석

This study selected picture books which use divorce as their subject matter, and analyzed how child characters of those picture books respond emotionally to it and cope with it. This study selected 14 divorce-related picture books for children. To analyze data, this study made thematic analysis of those picture books based on the divorce step model of Sprenkle and Storm (1983). Data analysis showed the followings. In the step of ‘pre-divorce decision-making’, child characters of picture books expressed negative emotions such as fear for possibility of being deserted, guilty conscience, and betrayal, etc. Many picture books under the step of ‘restructuring after divorce’ portrayed children who feel a sense of loss and miss the parent who does not live with them, as well as emotions of bewilderment, loneliness, and shrinking in the face of the new reality. In the step of ‘recovery after divorce’, character children were described as reestablishing their relationships with parents, and adjusting themselves with single-parent situations based on supportive relations with those around them. In particular, instead of showing strong emotional response as they do in previous steps, children in this step of recovery cognitively cope with the situations. Due to the characteristics of creative works called picture books, healthy adjustment of children was emphasized. Picture books described that those children can manage to understand divorce of their parents through their cognitive development levels, accept the realities instead of wishing unrealistic things, and grow adjusting to changed environments.

Gender Stereotyping in Brown Watson’s Picture Books (2012)

This paper discusses gender stereotyping represented in two selected picture books, My Little Book of Stories for Girls and My Little Book of Stories for Boys by Brown Watson (2012). The verbal and visual texts were examined to reveal the symbolical meanings of gender stereotyping which then argued by using Judith Butler’s gender performativity. The analysis results in a clear distinction between the performances of female and male characters. By separating female and male characters into completely different categorizations through their appearances, traits, and behavior, the first picture book represents feminine gender stereotypes that females are princesses who stay in the palace while the second represents masculine gender stereotypes that males are outdoor working individuals.

SUSTAINING LIFE WITH TREES: ECOCRITICISM PERSPECTIVE IN SELECTED PICTURE BOOKS

The issue of the environmental problem has been prevalent especially in the contemporary era. The fact that Mother Earth is currently facing a lot of environmental concerns is the central discussion of the selected children’s picture books. Hence, this study aims to analyze how the picture books successfully capture the idea that trees are the symbol of Mother Earth per se. The selected picture books to be discussed are: A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry (1984), The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (1992), Red Knit Cap Girl and The Reading Tree by Naoko Stoop (2014), Tree by Britta Teckentrup (2015) and The Tree by Neil Layton (2016). By scrutinizing the narrative and illustrative elements of the picture books, this study sheds light on how the ecosystems are held together by trees. The trees play a vital role in balancing and maintaining the world’s ecosystems. Moreover, the trees are valuable for providing environmental and social benefits. Hence, taking care of the trees can be perceived as maintaining a sustainable life for both the living and nonliving things. The underlying theories to support the discussion are those of ecocriticism, narrative and illustrative elements, and the trees as metaphor of the Mother Earth, all of which are interconnected in children’s picture books.

Cross-Curricular Analysis of Picture Books in the Fifth Grade of Primary School: A Case Study

Picture books discussed with pupils in primary school are considered multimodal texts, as they combine at least two communication codes (verbal and visual). A discussion involving picture books will normally be included in Slovenian language lessons, with pupils focussing mostly on the text. The visual aspect, which equally carries a message, is often neglected. The objective of the present case study that was conducted among fifth-grade primary school pupils in the 2018/19 school year was to explore how a cross-curricular approach to planning and executing the lessons in the Slovenian language and visual art can help pupils learn about the characteristics of the picture book as a multimodal text. We conducted a set of didactic activities entitled Getting to know the picture book, introducing selected picture books to pupils as part of their Slovenian language classes, which resulted in them developing their receptive skills while observing and defining the structure of the texts. In visual art classes, the pupils learned about the visual features of the picture book. As a productive response to the picture book discussed, the pupils were instructed to complete the following tasks: design a cover for their own picture book, design endpapers, illustrate their own poem, and produce their own leporello. The survey involved 21 pupils, a generalist teacher, and a researcher in art didactics. The case study was completed in five weeks. The data were obtained by means of initial and final testing, questionnaires for pupils, and participant observation.

DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES ON SCHOOL SEGREGATION ISSUES IN AMERICAN CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS

Aim. School segregation is a common theme of children’s books on minority groups living in the United States. Although it is primarily associated with black-white racial divisions, currently it also concerns white-Latino or rich-poor disparities. The aim of this paper is to analyse children’s picture books featuring Latino and African American characters who participate in the struggle against school segregation. The authors of the books, being members of racial minorities themselves, offer differing perspectives on the problem. Although they criticise school segregation, they also focus on the white perspective and the reasons why integrating schools has always been hard to achieve.
 Methods. The study analyses the visual and verbal narratives of selected picture books using a variety of methods for examining this literary format. Among others, it applies the theory of picture book analysis by Martin Painter, William Moebius, Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott.
 Results. The article shows that despite the existing scholarship on race-related problems in American schools, children’s literature seems to be the medium which tries to explain the problem to youngsters being directly involved in the system of segregation.
 Conclusions. The results can be useful to educators who cope with the issue of racial diversity in American schools. They may consider using selected titles of children’s literature as teaching aids assisting students from minority groups in the process of self-development and empowerment.

“It Broadens Our Horizon”: English Learners Learn Through Global Literature and Cultural Discussion

AbstractIn this qualitative case study, the author explored how reading global literature books and interacting with U.S. literacy teachers influenced Chinese college students’ intercultural understandings and English‐language learning. Students read the selected picture books, discussed in small groups, conducted freewritings, made video clips, and created e‐books and PowerPoint presentations. The author found that students learned about different cultures, developed global awareness, and showed their respect and empathy for cultural differences. Reading global picture books and engaging in cultural discussion about the books helped students reflect on their own culture, think critically, and advocate for others. Students became interested in global literature books and developed English‐language skills by interacting with literature and U.S. teachers. Educational implications for English‐language and literacy teachers are provided.

Child Reader’s Process of Selecting Picture Books based on Gender: Focused on 2nd Grade Elementary Student

This study explores process of selecting picture books influenced by child reader’s identity. 44 second-grade students’ responses about picture book selection were collected by sign response gathering test and fo cused student interviews. The child readers showed diverse preferences on components of picture book’s cover. The perspectives of participants were largely derived from their identity formed by gender-separated peer groups, especially for boys: the boys selected books on the basis of their gender-biased beliefs compared with girls. The excessive self-cen teredness lead children to misguided judgments regarding the contents of books, and avoiding certain books. It shows even child readers are needed to learn admitting attitude about diversity shown in book selec tion. Reading teachers or parents are needed to check the child readers’ gender sensitivity by observing reading process such as book selection or response about book.

Selecting Quality Picture Books for Mathematics Instruction: What Do Preservice Teachers Look For?

A quality picture book can enhance instruction and build positive and meaningful connections that enable students to visualize and engage in mathematics. To learn more about how preservice teachers analyze and select quality picture books in their mathematics lessons, a study was conducted over two semesters during a required field experience component of an undergraduate teacher education program. The preservice teachers were required to use a picture book to explore a mathematical concept in three mathematics-focused lesson plans. Data was collected through preservice teachers’ lesson plan reflections, summative reflections over the experience of integrating picture books and mathematics, and focus group interviews. The qualitative data analysis revealed that in planning mathematics lessons to incorporate quality picture books, preservice teachers most often selected a book based on the topic to be taught or based on previous use by their university instructor. The quality of the selected picture books did not appear to be a critical criterion for selection. As a result, it is important for teacher educators to model ways of assessing and selecting quality picture books and provide opportunities for preservice teachers to incorporate these techniques.

What Kind of Book? Selecting Picture Books for Vocabulary Acquisition

AbstractThis study analyzes the importance of selecting adequate picture books to facilitate the acquisition of new vocabulary with youngEFLlearners, taking into account the complexity of the narration, the complexity of the illustrations, and the appropriate number of sessions. The study was conducted with a class of twenty‐two 3‐year‐old students at a charter school in Madrid, Spain. Results showed that students learned more vocabulary when the narration consisted of simple sentences or single words and when the books had at most three elements per page, with a clear distinction between those elements and the background. This study shows the importance of making a good selection of picture books to be used as a tool in theEFLclass and offers the possibility for further studies with a bigger sample, also analyzing factors such as the length of the books and the number of target vocabulary words considered.

Analysis of Factors in the Selection of Picture Books according to Mothers’ Expectation for Children

본 연구는 유아기 어머니의 자녀기대감과 유아 그림책 선정 요인의 관계를 분석하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 얻은 결과는 다음과 같다. 어머니의 자녀기대감과 유아 그림책 선정 요인과의 관계에 있어서 유의미한 차이가 나타났다. 자녀기대감 중 유아의 건강에 대한 기대가 높으면 유아 그림책 선정에 있어 학습성에 대한 고려 정도는 낮게 나타났다. 또한 유아에 대해 지적 유능성에 대한 기대가 높으면 유아 그림책 선정에 있어, 학습성, 논리성, 표지의 예술성에 대한 고려정도는 높게 나타났다. 본 연구를 통해 어머니의 자녀기대감은 유아 그림책 선정에 있어 영향을 미침을 알 수 있었다. 유아에게 그림책읽기는 놀잇감이자 교육 도구이며, 가정에서 가장 많이 접하는 활동 중의 하나이다. 이와 같은 그림책이 어머니의 자녀기대감에 의해 편향되게 제공될 수 있으므로 유아의 전인적 발달 측면을 고려한 다양하고도 균형잡힌 그림책의 선정이 이루어져야 할 것이다.This study is focused on analysis of relationship between mother’s expectation for children and their major factors of selecting picture books for children. The results showed significancy of relations. If the expectation for the child’s health is high, the level of attention to educational benefit of picture books is low. On the other hand, if the expectation for the child’s intellectual ability is high, the level of attention to educational benefit, logic, and artistry of the cover is high. The study reveals that mother’s expectation for children have influence on their selection of picture books. Reading picture books is a play and educational tool for children and one of the most common activities performed at home. Therefore, balanced selection of picture books for child’s well-rounded development is expected.

Refugee-themed picture books for ethical understanding in curriculum English

ABSTRACTThis study looked at the curricular resource potential of refugee-themed picture books for embedding an ethics of responsibility for linguistic diversity into the subject of English studied by all students in English-dominant western societies. Selected picture books were analysed in terms of a Levinasean ethics of responsibility for alterity in order to probe the possibilities of a supplement or alternative to the ethics of empathy long established in the literary component of English. The analyses looked at the books as multimodal artefacts, understanding the linguistic modes of the texts from a translingual perspective. This perspective construes language as mobile semiotic resources that are rendered meaningful through the performances of interlocutors in a given communicative situation. From the analyses, findings were produced about (1) representations of the monolingual sameness of everyday life in Australia as an English-dominant society and (2) the translingual dispositions called forth when language variation enters into the linguistic text. It is concluded that the ethics of responsibility for alterity holds out promise for tapping the curricular resource potential of refugee-themed picture books for embedding ethics into the language awareness component sometimes incorporated into English.

Selecting picture books featuring characters with autism spectrum disorder: recommendations for teachers

ABSTRACTWe read 48 children's books featuring characters with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to determine which books would be appropriate for use during read-alouds in early childhood classrooms. We conducted a search on Amazon for children's books on ASD published after 2010 and identified 50 books that met the following criteria: (a) the book was a picture book for young children, (b) the main character had ASD, (c) the book was not a skill-building book for children with ASD, and (d) the book received more positive than negative reviews from readers on Amazon. We evaluated books for visual and literary content and accurate portrayal of ASD characteristics. We then showed books to special education professionals, general-education teachers, and education professors for their input. Through this review process, nine books were identified as appropriate for read-alouds in early childhood classrooms. We also contacted authors of select books to gather information on their experience with ASD. Overall, we found that the characteristics of books we selected featuring characters with ASD were different from the characteristics of children's literature typically used for class read-alouds. We therefore present recommendations for teachers to use when selecting children's books featuring characters with ASD.