In this study I have analysed three picture books from a gender perspective: Gittan gömmer bort sig, Vera och Vilgot i byggvaruhuset, and Superhjälte. The aim was to find out how the characters are presented from a gender perspective and whether traditional gender patterns are reinforced or challenged. The aim is to find signs of equality between the sexes. The method used is discourse analysis. The theory from which I proceed is gender-focused literature analysis.   The analyses showed that several of the characters break traditional gender patterns and that the equality of the sexes is manifest. It is above all the children in the books who do not follow the norm, whereas the adults are more stereotyped. My perception is that these books seek to question traditional gender roles. A broad repertoire of books can help to affect children’s view of gender. School should uphold the equality of the sexes, and as teachers we can help to shape the children so that they do not get stuck in traditional patterns.

In this study we have analysed six modern books for children and adolescents. The books we chose to analyse were four titles from the series Lassemajas detektivbyrå, Rum 213 and Cirkeln because they are popular among girls in compulsory school. The aim of the analysis was to investigate how girls are presented in the books as regards personality, appearance and relations. We also wanted to investigate the gender relations expressed in the books. We discovered that the books we analysed largely go against traditional norms. This was most visible in Cirkeln. In Lassemajas detektivbyrå there are leading characters who break the norms, but otherwise traditional gender patterns are retained. In Rum 213 it was not as clear that the author wanted to break traditional patterns. In the books we observed a desire to create new spaces for girls to be themselves on the basis of their identity and not their gender. It is our perception that today’s books for children and adolescents are increasingly questioning traditional norms.

The aim of this study is to examine how substance abuse and mental illnesses are portrayed in children’s literature from a child’s perspective. To achieve the aim, text analyses were performed on four selected works of children’s literature. The question asked is: in what way can the selected books function to support pupils in problematic family circumstances? The scientific approach of the study is hermeneutic. Hermeneutics means the theory of interpretation and concerns the creation of meaning and understanding through interpretations of texts. The analyses proceed from a hermeneutic model. The model shows how different components go together in the interpretation of a text. In the analyses the children’s literature is set in relation to the background chapter, which shows what the reality is like. The discussion considers the analyses in greater depth with the aid of the theory in order to investigate how readers with similar experiences can perceive and be affected by literature. We chose to design the study in this way because it reflects the hermeneutics. The results of the study show that the selected literature can affect the reader. The theory shows that people have a tendency to recognize themselves in literature and see their own problems at a distance, which helps the reader in real life. Through the literature the reader’s conceptual world can be expanded by new insights into their surroundings. The conclusions drawn in the study are that it is important to work with the Convention on the Rights of the Child in school, to explain to children that adults are not always in good health, and that children have a right to be children.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman has several characters who in many ways break gender norms. The main protagonist of the novel, Coraline, acts more in accordance with masculine gender norms, and the mother figures are mothers who do not fully conform to the traditional mother role. The purpose of this study is to look at how Coraline and the mother figures perform their gender, and in which ways this breaks with or aligns with traditional gender norms. The analytical approach is based on Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, and on masculine and feminine gender schemas defined by John Stephens. For the analysis of motherhood, gender performativity has also been used, and works by Adrienne Rich and Einat Natalie Palkovich. This study shows that the protagonists challenge traditional gender role norms of masculinity and femininity, whereof motherhood is part. The study also shows that there is a lack of female role models for the young protagonist, and that acting according to masculine gender norms is desirable and necessary in the novel. But for the mothers, breaking gender norms is undesirable, dangerous, and even punished. A conclusion of the study is that even though Coraline appears to be a feminist novel, the underlying message is not entirely so.

Esta dissertação possui como temática a literatura infantil que circula na escola, especialmente, analisando edições populares adaptadas de contos de fadas. Dentre as coleções encontradas nos acervos investigados em duas escolas municipais – educação infantil e ensino fundamental - de um município da região metropolitana de Porto Alegre/RS, destacou-se a presença de determinadas séries com publicações de textos adaptados muito sucintos e com pouco cuidado editorial, preferencialmente, de “contos de fadas”, ao lado dos acervos oficiais distribuídos às escolas pelo Ministério de Educação (PNBE, PNLD, PNAIC). A partir desta constatação, meu objetivo, nesta dissertação, foi o de analisar criticamente adaptações de textos considerados “clássicos da literatura infantil”, encontrados nas escolas, realizando um cotejo com os "originais" [ou versões mais conhecidas], identificando as modificações e verificando, de maneira geral, os critérios que presidiram suas modificações. Considerando que estas coleções integram o circuito pedagógico nas instituições, realizei uma análise das adaptações de dez clássicos: “O Patinho Feio”, “João e o Pé de Feijão”, “Branca de Neve”, “A Bela e a Fera”, “A Bela Adormecida”, “Cinderela”, “Chapeuzinho Vermelho”, “João e Maria”, “Os Três Porquinhos” e “O Pequeno Polegar”, tomando como referência alguns estudos sobre contos de fadas e sobre adaptação (CADEMARTORI, CECCANTINI, HUTCHEON, CARVALHO, SHAVIT, entre outros). A análise das edições adaptadas, considerando tanto o projeto gráfico dos livros quanto as permanências e modificações dos textos, em relação às obras mais tradicionais, nos permitiu evidenciar o limitado potencial literário destas obras, uma vez que não privilegiam a riqueza das narrativas originais, tampouco sustentam a recepção destas histórias pelo leitor. Tornou-se evidente que a publicação de adaptações constitui uma estratégia do mercado editorial para o largo consumo de livros que possam “ensinar algo” para as crianças. Neste sentido, a investigação é produtiva, à medida que coloca em xeque o conceito de “literatura infantil” ou “livros para crianças” no circuito escolar. / This paper focuses on children’s literature in the school, particularly analysing popular issues of fairytales. Among works found in collections investigated in two municipal children’s and primary schools in the city of Porto Alegre (RS), the presence of particular series published from very brief and poorly edited texts, especially, about ‘fairytales’, as well as official collections the Ministry of Education (PNBE, PNLD, PNAIC) distributed to schools. Thus my aim was to analyse critically adaptations of texts considered as ‘children’s literature classics’ found in schools, by comparing them with ‘originals’ (or more popular versions), identifying changes and generally verifying criteria for such changes. Considering that these collections follow pedagogical paths in institutions, I make an analysis of adaptations from ten classics: The Ugly Duckling, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Thumb. Here we have drawn to some studies about fairytales and adaptations such as Cademartori, Ceccantini, Hutcheon, Carvalho, Shavit, among others. Analysing these adapted works, by considering both books’ graphic part and attachment or change of traditional, allow us to show that these works have limited literary potential, once they do not favour the richness of the original narratives nor sustain the readers’ reception of these stories, which shows that publication of adaptations constitutes a strategy of the publishing market for the large consumption of books that may ‘teach something’ for children. In this perspective, the investigation is useful as it challenges the concept of ‘children’s literature’ or ‘children’s books’.

Si l’on peut faire remonter la naissance de la fantasy aux récits mythologiques et la rattacher aux contes populaires, la fantasy moderne n’a été reconnue qu’au début du XXe siècle. Venu de l’anglais imagination, le genre appartient au domaine de la littérature d ‘évasion, car il propose un « réenchantement » de notre monde.Marquée par de grands titres, tels que la trilogie du Seigneur des anneaux de J. R. R. Tolkien, la fantasy s’est ouverte à la littérature de jeunesse, notamment avec Harry Potter. Notre étude porte sur un corpus d’oeuvres marquantes de S. Audouin-Mamikonian, P. Bottero, B. Bottet, S. De Mari, N. Farmer, C. Paolini, M. Paver et E. Rodda, qui ont été publiées en France entre 2000 et 2006. Après avoir esquissé une typologie des sous-genres de la fantasy en la caractérisant par rapport aux autres littératures de l’imaginaire, il s’agit d’interroger les œuvres du corpus au niveau de la construction du héros et du monde dans lequel il évolue, d’étudier les phénomènes intertextuels et, notamment, comment le schéma narratif du conte est utilisé pour offrir à son lecteur un parcours quasi initiatique de l’adolescence et, enfin,de montrer comment la fantasy jeunesse en France est devenue un phénomène social et éditorial par l’intermédiaire des nouveaux outils de commercialisation / Although fantasy dates back to mythological tales and may be associated with folktales, modern fantasy has only been recognized since the beginning of the 20thcentury. According to its definition as “imaginative fiction”, the genre belongs to thefield of escapist literature since it provides a “re-enchantment” of our world.Highlighted by best-sellers, such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien,fantasy flourished in children’s literature especially with Harry Potter. Our study relieson a significant body of works written by S. Audouin-Mamikonian, P. Bottero,B. Bottet, S. Mari, N. Farmer, C. Paolini, M. Paver and E. Rodda and published in France between 2000 and 2006. After outlining a typology of the subgenres of fantasy by characterizing it in relation to the other types of speculative fiction, the study focuses on the works themselves, especially with regard to the construction of the hero and of the world he lives in with a view to analyzing intertextual phenomena, grasping notably how the narrative scheme of the tale is used to offer the reader some sort of initiation journey through adolescence and, lastly, to showing how youth fantasy in France has become a social and editorial phenomenon through innovative marketing tools

Published in November 1877, Black Beauty is one of the most popular and enduring works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book, in which the eponymous narrator relates his life's story, sold well following its publication in England and in the United States; by 1985, sales were estimated at over forty million. While usually regarded as entertaining, Black Beauty has a strong crusading purpose: Anna Sewell herself said she wrote to improve the treatment of horses. This study springs from an intuitive notion. While reading the 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I could not shake a "curiously different sense of familiarity" that took me home to my well-worn copy of Black Beauty. The more I explored a relationship between Douglass's Narrative and Black Beauty, the more apparent it became that these two works were interrelated in ways that had yet to be explored in critical literature. Although comparisons between animals and slaves have long been made-slaves themselves recognized and used such comparisons-the relationship between animal autobiography and the slave narrative has only recently been recognized. In 1994 Moira Ferguson sketched several commonalities between the two genres. In 2003 Tess Cosslett made an explicit-if brief-comparison of the animal autobiography and the slave narrative, a comparison developed in depth in her 2006 study Talking Animals in British Children's Literature 1786-1914. This thesis investigates that relationship further. It begins by briefly reviewing generic criticism, moves to a consideration of the various genres into which critics have placed Black Beauty, and then examines the text as a slave narrative, focusing upon James Olney's 1985 discussion of the conventions of the slave narrative. Finally, it considers Elizabeth W. Bruss's study of autobiographical acts as a literary genre for additional areas that establish my original "sense of familiarity." In short, this thesis confirms Black Beauty's rhetorical, formal, thematic, and social power within the genre of the American antebellum slave narrative.

This thesis argues for the power of story and, in particular, the story of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien to help build optimism and hope. The Hobbit is under-used in primary schools and this thesis demonstrates that it is eminently suitable for children. Without imagination children are vulnerable to sadness and despair. The positive development of imagination through heroic tales is likely to benefit children emotionally and psychologically. The story of The Hobbit can be utilised to develop the concept of the Hero's Journey, a persistent trope in oral and recorded literature and an archetype for virtually all human experience. In addition, the thesis shows that critical thinking skills and multiple intelligences can be developed through the use of The Hobbit. Depression in young people is now recognised as a serious public health problem in Australia. Research supports the view that children need optimism. This thesis discusses statistics regarding the increased prevalence of childhood depression and aggression as well as alarming youth suicide reports. The inquiry by the Victorian Parliament into the effects of television violence on children is examined and the scholarly works of Neil Postman, inter alia, are discussed to establish the overall pattern of positive association between television violence and aggression in children. Furthermore, the contention that many contemporary realistic texts do little to promote hopefulness in the young is supported with the opinions of scholars who are respected in the field of children’s literature. Tolkien was a devout Catholic but, even more importantly, he was able to restate traditional values through his imaginative works of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This has relevance for Catholic educators who strive to relate Gospel values to popular culture. Christian education must extend imagination beyond morality to help young people to find meaning and purpose in their lives. Through the use of The Hobbit and other books of this kind, children can begin to learn not to fear change, failure or setbacks but to see them as important challenges and opportunities for personal growth. This thesis argues for the likely value of a continuum of this type of learning that begins in early childhood, in order to provide a

<p>Syftet med arbetet är att se hur kärlek skildras i barnlitteratur, för att ha det som utgångspunkt för diskussion om kärlek i skolan.</p><p>Jag valde att studera litteratur som definierar barnlitteraturen och beskriver dess historia. Den tidigare forskning som jag hittat inom det valda området, har jag varit i form av faktaböcker för barn. I litteraturgenomgången tar jag även upp olika metoder för boksamtal, där alla får möjligheten att våga uttrycka sig. För själva undersökningen valde jag att analysera barnböcker utifrån kriterierna att de skulle passa till elever i skolår fyra till sex och vara moderna så att eleverna lättare kan relatera till dem. Böckerna handlar huvudsakligen om kärlek men jag avgränsade mig ifrån sexuellt innehåll.</p><p>Resultatet visar på att barnlitteraturen är användbar i boksamtal om kärlek. Det är viktigt att se hur kärleken skildras i böckerna för att kunna lyfta fram olika sidor av den i samtalen. Ur flickor och pojkars perspektiv, lycklig och olycklig kärlek, olika skeden som till exempel bli ihop, vara ihop och göra slut. Det är alltid viktigt som lärare att vara medveten om vad det är för litteratur som eleverna läser för att få bra diskussionsunderlag.</p> / <p>The purpose of the study was to see how love is depicted in children’s literature, to have it as a basis for discussion about love in school.</p><p> </p><p>I chose to study literature, which defines children’s literature and describes it’s history. The previous research in the subject, was only available in form of factual books for children. I also discussed different methods of book talks, which gives everyone the oportunity to express themselves. For the study itself, I chose to analyze children’s books based on criteria that would fit the students in grades four to six and to be modern, so that students can relate to them. The books are mainly about love, but not about sexual relationship.</p><p> </p><p>My results show that children’s literature is useful in book circles about love. However, it is good to see how love is depicted in the books in order to highlight different aspects of love. The girls and boys' perspective, good and bad love, get back together, be together and brake up. It is always important that the teacher is aware of what kind of literature the students read to get a good discussion.</p> / Examensarbete/c-uppsats

Syftet med arbetet är att se hur kärlek skildras i barnlitteratur, för att ha det som utgångspunkt för diskussion om kärlek i skolan. Jag valde att studera litteratur som definierar barnlitteraturen och beskriver dess historia. Den tidigare forskning som jag hittat inom det valda området, har jag varit i form av faktaböcker för barn. I litteraturgenomgången tar jag även upp olika metoder för boksamtal, där alla får möjligheten att våga uttrycka sig. För själva undersökningen valde jag att analysera barnböcker utifrån kriterierna att de skulle passa till elever i skolår fyra till sex och vara moderna så att eleverna lättare kan relatera till dem. Böckerna handlar huvudsakligen om kärlek men jag avgränsade mig ifrån sexuellt innehåll. Resultatet visar på att barnlitteraturen är användbar i boksamtal om kärlek. Det är viktigt att se hur kärleken skildras i böckerna för att kunna lyfta fram olika sidor av den i samtalen. Ur flickor och pojkars perspektiv, lycklig och olycklig kärlek, olika skeden som till exempel bli ihop, vara ihop och göra slut. Det är alltid viktigt som lärare att vara medveten om vad det är för litteratur som eleverna läser för att få bra diskussionsunderlag. / The purpose of the study was to see how love is depicted in children’s literature, to have it as a basis for discussion about love in school.   I chose to study literature, which defines children’s literature and describes it’s history. The previous research in the subject, was only available in form of factual books for children. I also discussed different methods of book talks, which gives everyone the oportunity to express themselves. For the study itself, I chose to analyze children’s books based on criteria that would fit the students in grades four to six and to be modern, so that students can relate to them. The books are mainly about love, but not about sexual relationship.   My results show that children’s literature is useful in book circles about love. However, it is good to see how love is depicted in the books in order to highlight different aspects of love. The girls and boys' perspective, good and bad love, get back together, be together and brake up. It is always important that the teacher is aware of what kind of literature the students read to get a good discussion. / Examensarbete/c-uppsats