Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Woman's University, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.

In Shanghai, an increasing number of parents believe that learning English at an early age will bring their children an advantage in future competition. As a result, kindergarten English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes have become popular in recent years. Although previous studies revealed that picture books are frequently used as teaching materials in kindergarten EFL classes, what is happening in these kindergarten EFL classes and the ways teachers use picture books to teach children English still remain largely unknown. To have a better understanding of the kindergarten EFL classes in Shanghai, this study aimed to explore kindergarten EFL teachers’ perspectives on and usage of picture books in their classes, as well as the challenges they face. Four experienced kindergarten EFL teachers selected by a criteria survey were invited to participate in this qualitative study. Data were collected from them by interviews, classroom observations and documents. Results showed that participants believed that picture books have linguistic, cognitive and cultural awareness values. Findings of this study also revealed the ways participants use picture books to teach children English and the challenges they faced. Findings of this study were discussed in connection with previous studies of picture books, Krashen’s language acquisition hypotheses, and Five Big Ideas on how children learn to read. This study also led to suggestions for further implications based on the findings of teachers’ reported challenges. Teachers faced great challenges in developing EFL classes, on self-development, and on building relationships with parents. To work on solutions to these problems and improve the quality of kindergarten EFL classes in Shanghai, it was determined that both the Chinese government and kindergartens or language training institutions should make efforts to support teachers. Shanghai’s kindergarten EFL classes are the product of market choices and are still in their beginning phase of development. As such, they need the support from those in all walks of life to better develop in the future.

Forty-two children's picture books portraying characters with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were evaluated to determine how symptoms of ASD are being portrayed as well to determine common themes found in these books. Books were evaluated using behavioral checklists created using symptoms found in common ASD diagnostic rating scales for both autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS). Of the 42 books, 35 books had characters with autism and 7 had characters with AS. The most commonly found symptoms were relating to people, verbal communication, and taste, smell and touch responses. Personal characteristics such as gender and race were identified as well as other common themes: point of view and changes in characters with autism. Overall characters are being displayed realistically and positively. This study is relevant to teachers, librarians, and others who are interested in how accurate portrayals of individuals with autism in children's literature may help them be accepted in society. A list of books used in this study is located in the appendix.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle with identifying others' emotions, which impacts their ability to successfully interact in social situations. Because of the increasing number of children identified with ASD, effective techniques are needed to help children identify emotions in others. The use of technology is being researched as a way to help children with emotion identification. However, technology is not always available for teachers to use in classrooms, whereas picture books are much easier to access and have been successfully used to improve students' social skills. Picture books are naturally used in classroom, home, and therapy settings. This study investigated the effectiveness of using picture books as a teaching tool with students with ASD, helping them learn how to identify emotions. A multiple baseline across three male subjects between the ages of six and ten was employed. Each picture book focused on teaching one specific emotion: scared, sad, and furious. Following intervention, when shown novel photographs, two of the participants identified three target emotions. One participant successfully identified one target emotion and showed marked improvement in identifying the other two target emotions. Using picture books is an easy, inexpensive way to teach emotions and can be naturally included in a classroom. Parents and other professionals can use picture books in a home or therapy setting to help children with ASD learn emotions and improve their social understanding.

While picture books are often viewed as educational resources for young readers, it is crucial to not overlook the images and content this literary medium contains. Research suggests that repetitive messages encompassing a stereotypical nature cultivate lasting impressions on young audiences. One portrayal often associated with negative implications is the depictions of older characters in children's first literature. This investigation analyzed a selection of picture books from the New York Times best sellers list, the Book Sense best sellers list, and the Caldecott award winners for the years 2000–2010. In an attempt to provide a time spectrum communicating the levels of ageism that remain prevalent within the last decade, over 700 illustrated literary works were included in this exploration. Although conclusions supported a continuation of the under-representation of senior adults that is congruent to similar studies, findings suggested a significant improvement in the overall portrayal of older characters in illustrated books. This result communicates an optimistic outlook in continuing the promotion of positive attitudes for children regarding the aging process.

Even though today's children's literature provides a wide range of topics, including books on death and grief, and much has been done to represent children with disabilities accurately and positively, there is still room for improvement. This descriptive study sought to understand how individuals with disabilities were represented in 177 grief-themed children's books from 1965-2023. From the results, only seven books included representations of individuals with disabilities. Additionally, the literary devices such as euphemisms or metaphors utilized in the books to describe how death was represented may inadvertently perpetuate inaccessibility to resources about grief (Berns, 2004). Thus, when choosing books about grief and death, parents, caregivers, and educators should incorporate concrete and unambiguous language. Taking time to listen and answer questions can provide ongoing support and reassurance for those experiencing the death of a loved one.

No description available.

My studies consider the genre of children's literature, specifically picture books, and their treatment of the topic of diabetes. I frame my argument with an examination of diabetes, the psychological effects of diabetes on the child, the need of thorough education about diabetes. I argue for the use of the picture book as an effect tool in educating and socializing the diabetic child. I first explore the implications of diabetes and the long term complications caused by one's poor control of the disease. I then explore the psychological ramifications of a chronic illness on the young child. Next I assert the need to combine the physiological and psychological factors of diabetes into a responsible text for children, one which both serves as an educating tool and a source of comfort in difficult times with the disease. I conclude my studies with critiques of existing materials in the limited genre and compare them to the story I have written for children about diabetes. / Master of Arts

The main problem of this research was to discover if children's picture books over the last fifty years have depicted rural values more significantly than urban values. One-hundred and one children's picture books were systematically chosen for analysis. This study takes an overall view of the history of children's literature. Also included is a review of the current studies and literature most germain to this study. Content analysis was used as the technique of data analysis, A descriptive analysis of the sample is also given. The study supports the main hypothesis that rural set, tings and rural values do occur more often than non-rural settings and urban values in children's picture books.

While over the years stakeholders such as publishers and academics have taken a keen interest in research into writing and publishing, they have been less concerned about research into indigenous children‟s literature. In this thesis a comprehensive examination of children‟s literature in the indigenous African languages of South Africa and in Zulu in particular, is presented. Qualitative research methods have been applied, using questionnaires and interviews to gain first-hand knowledge of problems and possible solutions to the dearth of original children‟s literature in the indigenous languages. The data obtained in this regard has proved invaluable to the researcher and, hopefully, will be so to others in the future. Oral folktales narrated before the influence of the missionaries qualify as children‟s literature. The transition from the oral performance of these folktales to the reading of written children‟s texts is discussed in detail. This is achieved by considering the milieu, themes, content, functions and values of this children‟s literature. The discussion of imilolozelo (lullabies) and izilandelo/izidlaliso (game songs) presents the genre of children‟s traditional oral poetry as a form of performance based not only on narrative but also on songs and/or chants interspersed with rhythmical movements to relay their message. Zulu school readers as modern literature for children are also examined by tracing their background and the development of original Zulu children‟s written literature since it was first recorded by the missionaries. Contents and themes of these early readers, dating from the 1800s, are examined and compared with a series of graded readers published in 1962 by C.L.S. Nyembezi. The sixth chapter of the thesis investigates Zulu children‟s picture books as contemporary literature. Various types of picture books and their functions are discussed. Research findings point to an urgent need for the training of African authors in the writing of age-appropriate books in indigenous African languages. Lastly, the study proves that it is feasible to regard traditional oral and modern indigenous texts as children‟s literature. / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)