Picturebooks are an important part of the classroom environment in early childhood education. They open doors to new experiences, nurture students' cultural identities, and invite students to explore connections across cultures. In the United States today, many of the picturebooks that are available to teachers and students in preschool classrooms come from the state curriculum that the school district has implemented. Shifting demographic trends have led many educators to recognize a need for more diversity of literature in classrooms. This study was conducted in response to this growing concern that books should better reflect the cultures and identities of the children who read them, with a particular emphasis on young female children of color. The research question guiding this study is: How do picturebook texts and illustrations in an early childhood curriculum represent the identities of female characters of color as viewed through a critical feminist theoretical lens? To investigate this question, I critically analyzed children's picturebooks from a current early childhood curriculum adopted by the state of Texas, focusing on representations of gender and race. The selected books were analyzed using critical content and critical visual analyses to consider how the text and illustrations together represent female characters of color. Although earlier studies of picturebooks have pointed out a deficit of authentic portrayals of female characters of color, this study found that books in the sample did show some attention to authentic cultural themes including motherhood, action and agency, and subjugated knowledge and culture. However, implications for practice and research included the need for more balanced representation of diverse cultures within the curriculum to better reflect preschool demographics, as well as the need for more classroom instruction on books that give voice and agency to young female children of color as they develop their personal and cultural identities.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 R92 / Master of Science / Family Studies and Human Services

Estabelecemos como objetivo de nossa pesquisa: o descortinar do olhar para obras de Literatura Infanto-Juvenil, viabilizado por meio do entrelaçamento de aspectos referentes ao imaginário medieval ao fazer literário de Angela Lago. Destacamos em Charadas Macabras, a presença do elemento capeta como veiculador de informação e ou transformação através do uso da palavra. Em Sua Alteza A Divinha, o resgate da oralidade, enfocada sob a luz da teoria bakhtiniana, concedeu a ampliação de recursos como a comicidade, a ludicidade, a brincadeira, encapsulada na obra através do jogo, do desafio oral englobados na esfera da antítese social - o popular contrapondo-se à aristocracia, o forte contra o fraco - o elemento feminino em oposição ao masculino, fatores que concorreram para o dimensionar da análise. Caminhar nas trilhas da cultura oral possibilitou, ainda, a descoberta do riso espontâneo pelos veios da improvisação, pelo evidenciar da praça pública com suas práticas, identificadas em 10 Adivinhas Picantes, além de contribuir para o despertar da literatura paródica, presente em Indo Não Sei Aonde Buscar Não Sei O Quê. A busca de releituras do conto da princesa \"expert\" em adivinhações, compiladas por pesquisadores como Adolpho Coelho e Câmara Cascudo consolidaram, sobremaneira, o propósito inicial de pesquisa - a comprovação, nos contos de Angela Lago, da influência da cultura medieval que chega, através de Portugal e Brasil. Na conclusão, retomamos os elementos pertinentes à cada obra permeados ao âmbito do leitor, e palmilhados, particularmente, ao universo da criança - quintal da casa do faz-de-conta, lugar onde a magia, a alegria e o sonho, são. / We have widely discussed, in this written work, about different understanding points of Literature books for children, pointing out the influence of medieval imaginary in Angela Lago\'s masterpiece. In the book Charadas Macabras, we have elicited the presence of the Devil, by the transformation of his spoken words. The oral exercise, in the narrative Sua Alteza A Divinha, was focused under the lights of Bakhtin\'s concepts. The aspects of theses concepts took into consideration the amplifying of the comic and the children\'s entertainment points, which were encapsulated in the tale by the game, (the oral contest). All these points should be understood as a social anthitesis - the popular level put in front of the aristocracy, strong people against weak people - the feminine element against masculine element. All these factors contributed toward the dimensional views of the this book. In researching, \"the study of oral culture\" we discovered it contained espontaneous humor cause by the improvise performances, present in the public square. The public square was a popular place for people to hold their artistic performance. These aspects can be identified in the books Indo Não Sei Aonde Buscar Não Sei O Quê and 10 Adivinhas Picantes. Upon examining the \"tales of a princess\" we found they contain many expertly written riddles. This subject was widely studied by researchers like Adolpho Coelho and Câmara Cascudo, who also empathized the initial purpose of this project - the corroboration of the influence of medieval culture, by Portugal and Brazil, in Angela Lago\'s tales. In conclusion, we have taken the elements that belong to each narrative and inserted them into the sphere of the reader, and particulary, the child reader. The mind of child is known to be most criative and imaginative. It\'s a world where invention, dreams, magic, hapiness and sadness exists.

Thesis (M.A. (English))--University of Pretoria, 2003.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the picture book preferences of grade four Aboriginal students, to discover what books have the greatest appeal and to determine which specific factors influence their choices. The study took place at an inner city elementary school with a high population of Aboriginal students located in the heart of the Canadian prairies. Experienced educators know that the majority of Aboriginal chidlren come to school with little or no exposure to books. Studies have shown that the ability or lack of ability to read at grade level is a strong indicator of future academic success. Teachers and librarians have little information available to assist them in choosing literature that will be of interest to Aboriginal students and motivate them to read and through practice improve their reading skills. Provincial governments are looking for research that addresses the needs of this growing population. Twelve grade four Aboriginal students participated in the study, seven boys and five girls. The students viewed forty-five books that were divided into three sets of fifteen and chose one book from each set to read and respond to through writing and/or drawing. After the book selection and response sessions were complete, the researcher interviewed each child to determine the one book they would most want to take home. The study concludes that: 1) Students preferred to read picture books portraying Aboriginal characters that reflected their own image; 2) Students transposed the urban and rural settings in the Aboriginal books to make relevant connections with their lives; 3) Aboriginal books portraying Aboriginal characters was the genre with the greatest appeal; 4) Students preferred vivid realistic illustrations; 5) Students background experience frequently determined their preferences in books and also increased their motivation to read; 5) Realistic pictures with minimal amounts of text held great appeal for boys selecting information books. It is hoped that the study will assist teachers and librarians in selecting literature that will be of interest to Aboriginal students encouraging them to read more and by improving their reading skills raise the level of their general academic achievement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2007. / Title from title page screen, viewed on March 11, 2008. Dissertation Committee: Karen Coats (chair), Jan Susina, Christopher Breu. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 289-303) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 1997. / Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 1997. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.