This two years master’s thesis is a review and exploration of the Swedish debate concerning children’s literature from the 19th century to the present, as well as the evaluation and analysis of four adaptations of the tale Red Riding Hood. The aims are to identify how ideas and values regarding the role of children’s literature in society have developed over time and to contribute with a knowledge base for continued reflection and discussion on the subject of children’s reading and mediation of children’s literature in public libraries. The theory and method used in the thesis, is primarily based on the discourse analysis of Michel Foucault. I have identified four main discourses: the educational discourse, the liberation discourse, the politicized dis- course and the popular discourse. To explore the tension between contingency and permanence within the dis- cursive field I have revolved the analysis around key concepts such as ”pedagogy”, ”children” and ”childhood”. The four different adaptations of Red Riding Hood illustrate how beliefs about children and children’s reading have been revised over time. The study shows that the debate and the literature have evolved from a didactic and instrumental point of view to a more liberating and aesthetic approach. But the movement is not linear and uni- vocal. The current debates and the range of children’s literature today exhibit tendencies both of protective mo- rality, expressive and imaginative aesthetics and political awareness. The predominant view of children is still as human “becoming’s” rather than “beings”, and the value of reading literature is thus regarded as extrinsic and as a tool for language development. This continuous and ongoing educational discourse takes little interest in the children’s own ideas and opinions about books and reading. It is my conclusion that children’s libraries, as me- diators of children’s literature, have an enhanced role to play in today’s technologically based society; providing and encouraging book discussions and other literary activities where not only the literature is in focus, but the children’s own reading experiences as well.

Det finns mycket forskning som handlar om barns läsinlärning, men inte om barns egen högläsning. Syftet med den här studien var att se om högläsning för ett djur kunde öka motivationen för läsning hos barn med lässvårigheter. Studien hade 2 deltagande barnmed lässvårighetersamt 3 deltagande föräldrar som rekryterades av logoped som är verksam hos Lära med djur, den förening där läsinterventionen genomfördes. Metoden var single subject design (A-B-A) där varje barn utgjorde sin egen kontroll. Studien var indelad i tre olika faser. Under baslinjen (A) läste barnet högt i hemmiljön. Under interventionen (B) läste barnet högt för ett djur vid fem tillfällen. Under uppföljningen (A) läste barnet hemma igen. All högläsning videoinspelades och föräldrarna intervjuades 3 gånger, en gång i respektive fas. Viss förändring hos barnen kundekonstateras på områdena aktiv lästid och antal avbrott under läsningen. Intervjuerna med föräldrarna visade på att interventionen med djur förefaller ha haft en positiv påverkan på åtminstone ett av barnens läsmotivation. Båda föräldraparen valde att låta sina barn fortsätta läsa hos Lära med djur efter studiens avslut. Sammantaget visade resultaten att läsning med djur kan ha en viss effekt på barnets läsning, men vidare studier krävs på området. / There is a lot of studies done about children’s learning to read but not a lot about themselves reading aloud. The purpose of this study was to see if reading aloud to an animal can increase the reading motivation in children with reading difficulties. The study had 2 participating children with reading difficulties and 3 participating parents who were recruited by a speech and language pathologist who works at Lära med djur, the association where the reading intervention took place. The method was a single subject design (A-B-A) where each child constituted as their own control. The study was divided into three different phases. During the baseline (A), the child read aloud in the home environment. During the intervention (B), the child read aloud to an animal on five occasions. During the follow-up (A), the child read at home again. All readings were videotaped. The parents were interviewed three times, one time in each of the phases. The children showed some change in the areas of active reading time, the correct number of words read and the number of interruptions during reading. The interviews with the parents showed that the intervention with animals seemed to have had a positive effect on foremost one of the childrens’ motivation for reading. Both parent couples said that they chose to let their child continue to read at Lära med djur atthe end of the study. Overall, the resultsshowed that reading with animals can have a certain effect on the child's reading, but further studies are required in this area.