This dissertation investigates the visual and verbal representations of animals in a selection of commercial picture books for a young readership of preschool children. The picture books selected are part of the Little Golden Book series. The first twelve books in this series were published in the United States in 1942 and are still in print today, while new books are continually being published. Because these popular picture books have had a broad readership from their inception and the books in the series have a uniform aesthetics, a comparative analysis provides insight into mainstream human-animal relationships.  Children’s literature is never innocent, and fraught with power imbalances. Animals become political beings, not only in the sense that they convey a didactic message, but in the sense that each animal representation carries a host of ideas and assumptions about human-animal relations with it. Using a theoretical framework that is grounded in Human Animal Studies (HAS), and more specifically literary animal studies, this dissertation analyzes the representation of human-animal interactions and relationships in different contexts.  Before the advent of HAS, anthropocentric, humanist interpretations of animal presence in children’s literature used to be prevalent. Commercial picture books in particular could benefit from readings that investigate animal presence without immediately resorting to humanist interpretations. One way of doing that is to start by questioning how interspecies difference and hierarchy is constructed in these books, verbally, visually and in the interaction between words and images. Based on this, we can speculate about the consequences this may have for the reader’s conceptualization of human-animal relationships. In children’s literature speciesism and ageism often intersect, for example when young children are compared with (young) animals or when animals are presented as stand-ins for young children. This dissertation explores the mechanisms behind the representation of species difference in commercial picture books.  The aim of this study is to analyze how commercial picture books like the Little Golden Books harbor a potential to shape young readers’ ideas about humanity and animality, species difference and hierarchy and the possibilities of interspecies interactions. The socializing function that is an important component of all children’s books makes that these picture books can shape readers’ attitudes from an early age. When reading children’s books featuring animals, the particular way these animals are represented guides the reader towards an ideology – and in the West, this ideology is predominantly anthropocentric. In Western cultures, children and animals are commonly thought of as natural allies, and as such they are often depicted as opposed to adult culture.  This dissertation identifies the ways in which certain conservative tendencies are activated by these commercial picture books, but also emphasizes that they can be a subversive space where anthropocentrism can be challenged. The case studies developed in this dissertation demonstrate how even so-called ’unsophisticated’ picture books contain interesting strains of animal related ideology worthy of in-depth analysis. The visual and verbal dimensions of these picture books show that these stories are embedded in a cultural context that helps give meaning to the animals. A recurring concern is the function of anthropomorphism and the role it plays in how we value the animals in these books. I am particularly interested in how picture books depict various degrees of anthropomorphism, because it has the potential to challenge species boundaries and disrupt the human-animal dichotomy.

No description available.

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur perspektivet på genus reproduceras i barnböcker utifrån hur bilderböckernas karaktärer framställs i text och bild. Vilka konsekvenser detta kan få i förskolans arbete med att bryta stereotypa könsmönster och roller. De fem mest utlånade bilderböcker i åldern 3-6 år valdes ut i Karlskrona kommuns alla bibliotek. Genom en bild- och textanalys har en tolkning gjorts utifrån ett analysschema med stereotypiskt kvinnliga respektive manliga egenskaper, attribut och aktiviteter. I resultatet framkommer att de fem analyserade barnböckerna indikera på en förbättad könsfördelningen mellan kvinnliga och manliga karaktärer. Både gällande böckernas bild och text, men samtidigt en fortsatt stereotyp bild av genus.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka kulturell mångfald i bilderböcker på svenska som är riktade mot barn mellan 0-6 år. Projektet skulle bidra med ytterligare kunskap om representationer av kulturell mångfald i barnlitteraturen. Projektet resulterade i ett förslag på hur en bokserie som inkluderar kulturell mångfalds framsidor kan se ut på den nuvarande svenska marknaden. Tidigare studier inom barnlitteratur handlar främst om genus- och könsrelaterade frågor. Därför var det av intresse att titta på den kulturella mångfalden i barnlitteraturen eftersom studier med detta fokus var en bristvara, speciellt i Sverige. Frågeställningarna löd: Hur ser representationen av kulturell mångfald ut i bilderböcker, riktade mot barn 0-6 år i Sverige? Vilka designelement har generellt använts under de senaste 5 åren på bilderböckers framsidor när de är riktade till barn på 0-6 år i Sverige? Projektet utgick från följande teoretiska ramverk: kulturell mångfald, barnens inlärning, representation och semiotik, identifikation och identitet, visuell forskning och designelement. Kulturell mångfald användes för att förstå och definiera fenomenet. Barnens inlärning användes för att få en djupare förståelse för bokens roll i barnets liv. Representation och semiotik användes för att förstå kopplingen mellan tecken och budskapet det ger, samt för att kunna ta ut tecken från de analyserade framsidorna. Identifikation och identitet användes för att förstå hur karaktärerna som representeras kan påverka barnen. Visuell forskning användes som en grund i hur analysen av framsidorna skulle gå till. Designelement användes för att gå djupare in på de utvalda delarna som skulle analyseras i analysen av framsidorna. Metoden som användes var en kvantitativ innehållsanalys då den gav möjligheten att analysera ett större utbud analysenheter. Urvalet bestod av framsidor på bilderböcker på svenska riktade till barn från 0-6 år. Dessa böcker hämtades slumpmässigt från Karlstad stadsbibliotekets utbud då dessa är tillgängliga för allmänheten. Analysen visade att det finns en brist på karaktärer med mörkare hudfärg och att det var en relativt jämn uppdelning mellan karaktärer med mörk och ljus hårfärg. Resultatet visade även att det var vanligast att inte inkludera namn eller ha påhittade namn på framsidorna. Men de gånger namn nämns var inget med ett helt utländskt ursprung representerat. Slutligen visade analysen att kulturella symboler knappt representerades och ifall det gjorde det så handlade det bara om jul. Resultatet på designelementen visade att den vanligaste generella färger var blå, den vanligaste färgen på titeln var röd och den vanligaste färgen på den övriga texten är svart. All text var generellt skriven med teckenfamiljen san-serif där titeln skrevs i versaler och den övriga texten skrevs med gemena bokstäver. Textens typografiska helhet var asymmetrisk och karaktärerna placerades generellt i mitten av sidan. Slutsatserna lyder att kulturell mångfald till viss del inkluderas på framsidorna av bilderböckerna men att det finns stort rum för utveckling. Det som var positivt var inkluderingen av många hårfärger. Men i övrigt behövs mer mångfald implementeras, exempelvis mer karaktärer med mörkare hudtoner och namn som endast har utländsk härkomst. / The purpose of the study was to analyze cultural diversity in Swedish picture books for kids between the ages of 0-6. The project’s ambition was to contribute with further knowledge about representations of cultural diversity in children's literature. The project produced a proposal for how a series of picture book front pages that include cultural diversity can look in the current Swedish market. Previous studies in the children's literature field mainly focus on sex- and gender-related issues. It was therefore interesting to instead look at the subject of cultural diversity in children's literature because studies with this phenomenon as focus are lacking, especially in Sweden. The questions were: What does the representation of cultural diversity look like in Swedish picture books aimed at children aged 0-6? Which design elements have been applied most frequently on the covers of picture books aimed at children aged 0-6 in Sweden during the last 5 years? The project was based on the following theoretical frameworks: cultural diversity, children's learning, representation and semiotics, identification and identity, the visual research and design elements. Cultural diversity was used for a better understanding and defining of the issue. The children's learning was used to gain a deeper comprehension of the book's role in the child's life. Representation and semiotics were used to understand the connection between signs and the message they carry, as well as being able to get an accurate knowledge about signs from the analyzed covers for further applications. Identification & identity was used to understand how the representation of characters can affect the children. The visual research was used as a basis for the analysis of the covers. Design elements were used for a more detailed analysis  of  picture book cover’s selected parts. The method used for this study was a quantitative content analysis since it gave the opportunity to analyze a vast range of analysis units. The selection consisted of picture book covers in Swedish aimed at children aged 0-6. These books were selected randomly from the Karlstad city library's collection for the reason that these books are accessible  to the public. The analysis revealed that there is a lack of representation of darked skin characters, but the representation of dark-colored hair and light-colored hair were relatively equal. The results also showed that it was most common not to include character names or to have made-up names on the covers. Nevertheless when names were mentioned,  there was no clear connection between the name and cultural variation. Finally, the analysis showed that cultural symbols were barely represented, and in those few times that it was represented Christmas was the only theme. The result on the design elements showed that the most common general color was blue, the most common color of the title was red and the most frequent color of the rest of the text was black. All texts were generally written with the san-serif character family where the title was written in capitals and the rest of the text was written in lowercase letters. The overall of the text typographical was asymmetrical and the characters were generally placed in the middle of the page. The conclusions are that the representation of cultural diversity is to some extent included on the covers of the picture books, however there are plenty of areas in need of improvement. The most positive was the inclusion of different hair colors, otherwise more diversity aspects needed to be implemented, for example more characters with darker skin tones and names with diversal origins.

<p>    </p> <p>Wordless picture book reading is one of the common literacy practices for young children that happen at schools and homes. This dissertation of three studies explores the reader-text transactions between young children and wordless picture books in three ways: a content analysis of wordless books potentially featuring characters of color, a multimodal analysis exploring children’s multimodal meaning making, and a mixed-method content analysis analyzing children’s performing social imagination and narrative imagination and change over time. Through analyzing a set of 39 wordless picturebooks with protagonists that can be potentially identified as people of color, the first article analyzed the books’ book themes, story events, and illustrations to explore how such books can function what Bishop suggested as windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors and support young children to learn about themselves and others. The second article explores the potential of preschoolers’ multimodal meaning making during reading wordless picturebooks. Multimodal meaning making can be valued as literacy practices that are closely related to reading comprehension, teaching instructions, and assessments. The third article focuses on kindergarteners’ use of social imagination and narrative imagination during reading wordless picturebooks that reveal young children’s active engagement and meaning making in reading. This series of articles hold implication for teachers and researchers to understand the potential of using wordless picture books for young children’s access to diverse topics of readings, literacy practices, and assessment, specifically children’s imaginative and multimodal ways of responding to reading of wordless picture books. </p>

I denna studie analyseras bilderböcker med fokus på hur riskfylld lek och maktrelationer skildras. Analyserna sker med hjälp av narratologiska begrepp. Viktiga begrepp i analysen av bilderböckerna, utöver riskfylld lek, är makt, motstånd och förhandling. Tidigare forskning visar att riskfylld lek är gynnsam för barnens både fysiska och kognitiva utveckling och deras förmåga att bedöma risker. Analysen är en kvalitativ bilderboksanalys med syfte att belysa hur riskfylld lek och barns självständighet gestaltas i bilderböcker för barn i förskoleålder. Det framkom att den riskfyllda leken gestaltas på olika vis i de olika bilderböckerna, men med ett övergripande tema där leken är lustfylld för barnen. I de analyserade bilderböckerna är i vissa fall de vuxna inte närvarande, när de vuxna finns med i berättelserna så har de övergripande ett negativt synsätt kopplat till de risker barnen möter i leken. Att arbeta pedagogiskt med samtal och aktiviteter kring litteratur som gestaltar riskfylld lek kan medföra att representationerna i bilderböckerna samt i de normer barn och pedagoger möter i förskolan skulle kunna ändras för att bättre överensstämma med utbildningsteori och barns egna erfarenheter. Samtalen, med fokus på ämnen som riskfylld lek, makt och delaktighet kopplat till förskolans verksamhet, kan möjliggöra för barn att genom dessa samtal påverka sin egen situation. / This study looks at how “risky play” and children’s independence is portrayed in picture books aimed at children ages 3-6. The picture books are analyzed using narratological concepts, focusing on how power relations are portraited. Some of the key concepts dealt with in the analysis, in addition to risky play, are power, resistance and negotiation. Research shows that risky play in ECEC is important for children to develop not only physically, but also their cognitive development and ability to assess risks. Although it was concluded that risky play is portraited in different ways in the books analyzed, an overarching theme of the play portraited as joyful was identified. In some of the picture books analyzed, adults were absent throughout. When the adults were included in the stories, they generally had a negative view on the potential risk children face in risky play. By working pedagogically in ECEC with conversations and activities around literature that portrays risky play, representations could shift to better align with educational theory and children’s own experience. The conversations, with a focus on topics such as risky play, power and participation connected to the ECEC context, can enable adults and children to, through conversations, give the children the opportunity to influence their own situation in the ECEC settings.

The aim of this essay is to investigate how gender and gender patterns are presented in Swedish picture books. The essay is based on a analyze of five Swedish picture books for the ages of three to five years. The selection of books was made on the library's most borrowed list and on Bokus and Adlibris top lists. The study takes its theoretical starting point in a gender perspective with a hermeneutic approach. With the support of Hirdman's (2003, 2004) gender theory and Nikolajeva's (2017) opposite scheme as an analysis tool, the characters gender representation is made visible in the books. Through analysis of the characters appearance, characteristics and actions, gender stereotypical norms will be identified and interpreted in the essay and then also compared with theory and previous research.The result from this study shows that the presentation of the characters in the picture books both deviates and maintain society's gender stereotypical norms. The conclusion of this study provides in-depth knowledge regarding gender norms in children's literature / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur genus och könsmönster framställs i svenska bilderböcker. Uppsatsen bygger på en analys av fem svenska bilderböcker för åldrarna tre-fem år. Urvalet av böcker gjordes på biblioteks mest lånade-lista och på Bokus och Adlibris topplistor. Studien tar sin teoretiska utgångspunkt i ett genusperspektiv med ett hermeneutiskt synsätt. Med stöd av Hirdmans (2003, 2004) genusteori och Nikolajevas (2017) motsatsschema som analysverktyg synliggörs karaktärernas genusframställning i böckerna. Genom analys av karaktärernas utseende, egenskaper och agerande kommer könsstereotypa normer att identifieras och tolkas i uppsatsen för att sedan också jämföras med teori och tidigare forskning.Resultatet från den genomförda studien visar att framställningen av karaktärerna i bilderböckerna både bryter mot och upprätthåller samhällets könsstereotypa normer. Slutsatsen är att denna studie ger fördjupad kunskap gällande könsnormer i barnlitteratur.

Syftet med denna studien är att undersöka hur förskollärare ser på sitt språkutvecklande arbete med bilderböcker i förskolan. Den metod som användes var semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer och samtliga intervjuer genomfördes på deltagarnas arbetsplatser.  Studiens resultat visar att förskollärare upplever att de arbetar varierat med bilderböcker i förskolan i form av bland annat högläsning, flanosagor, dramatisering och gestaltning. Högläsning sker dagligen medan de andra bokaktiviteterna vanligtvis förekommer under samlingsstunder. Förskollärarna understryker att det finns olika möjligheter till varierade aktiviteter med utgångspunkt i bilderböcker. dialogisk läsning förekom exempelvis också, vilket innebar att förskollärarna och barnen tillsammans disskuterar innehållet och begreppen som förekommer. I samband med läsningen kunde förskollärarna förklara olika ord som barnen inte förstod, vilket bidrog till att barnen fick ett större ordförråd. Förskollärarna beskriver även att de har arbetat med temaarbete tidigare och att det var uppskattat bland barnen. Studien visar att det inte endast sker högläsning av bilderböcker i förskolan utan också att förskollärarna upplever att de skapar ett varierat sätt för barnen att möta de berättelser som förmedlas i böckerna. / The aim of this study is to examine how preschool teachers view their language development work using picture books in preschool. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were used as a method and the interviews were conducted at each teacher´s preschool.  The results show that preschool techer´s view their work with picture books in varied ways with among other things reading aloud, flano tails, dramatization and go in character. Reading aloud is what ususally happens every day and the other activities take place more at gathering events. Preschool teachers emphaize that there are severeal opportunities for various activities based on picture books.  Dialogic reading was also common in preschool, which means that the educators and the children together discussed the contents and concepts of the books. During the reading, educators emphasized that they could explain diffrent words that the children did not understand, as this activity was considered by the educators to contribute to an increased vocabulary. Working with themes is also highlighted in this study, as the preschool teachers describe that is was appreciated among the children. The study show that the picture books is not only read aloud in preschool, but the teachers experiences that they create varied ways for the children to encounter stories and books.

Syftet med denna kunskapsöversikt var att undersöka hur bilderböcker kan användas i undervisningen för att stödja lågstadieelevers läsförståelse. Frågan som vår studie syftade till att besvara var; Hur kan skönlitterära bilderböcker användas didaktiskt för att stödja elevers läsförståelse? Data samlades in genom systematiska sökningar i olika databaser, både internationella och nationella. Datan analyserades därefter genom en tematisk analysmetod. Teman skapades utifrån valda artiklar och med utgångspunkt i studiens syfte och frågeställning. Rubrikerna i resultatdelen etablerades i sin tur genom att identifiera de viktigaste delarna av teman som hjälpte till att besvara vår frågeställning. Resultatet visade att bilderböcker spelade en viktig roll för att utveckla elevernas läsförståelse, men det förutsatte att lärarna gjorde eleverna medvetna om hur text- och bildrelation fungerade tillsammans för att stödja deras läsförståelse. Dessutom fick eleverna också kunskap om visuella element och vad illustratören ville förmedla i berättelsen genom att använda dem. Denna information hjälpte eleverna i deras bildtolkning och stöttade därmed deras läsförståelse. Resultatet visade att didaktiska aktiviteter som högläsning och boksamtal om bilderboken kunde stödja elevers läsförståelse vilket också visade lärarens viktiga roll i att stödja elevers läsförståelse genom att använda bilderboken. / The purpose behind this study of literature was to examine how picture books can be utilized by teachers' teaching to support the reading comprehension of primary students. The question that our study aimed to answer was: How can fictional picture books be used in a didactic sense to support primary students in their reading comprehension? The data was collected through systematic searches in different databases, both international and national. Said data were then analysed through the process of thematic analysis. Themes were created based on selected articles in relation to the question and purpose of the study. The headings in the result section were in turn established through the most significant parts of the themes which helped in answering our question. The results of the study showed that picture books played a significant role in the students' reading comprehension, but it required that they were taught how pictures and text relationship worked in tandem to aid in their reading comprehension. In turn the students also gained knowledge about visual elements and what the illustrator wants to convey in the narrative through the usage of them. This information helped students in their interpretation of pictures and supported their reading comprehension. The result showed that didactic activities like reading aloud and talking about the pictures helped in supporting their reading comprehension, which also indicates the central role teachers play in their students' ability to develop a deeper understanding through the usage of picture books.

本研究將繪本運用於成人華語的非正式課程（課外免費教學），旨在透過成人華語學習者對於繪本運用於成人華語文教學的看法及其學習成效，了解成人華語繪本教學的可行性。為達研究目的，本研究採用探索性的研究，以需求分析、課堂觀察記錄與焦點團體訪談為研究工具，蒐集研究資料，作為分析及討論問題的依據。本研究先針對臺灣北部某國立大學之華語文教學中心中級以上之外籍成人學習者發放需求調查問卷，之後以中級程度為限，於該華語中心開設「繪本學華語」免費課，並對修課之學習者進行焦點團體訪談，探討其對成人華語繪本教學的想法與意見。 經過研究實施與資料分析，歸結研究結果如下：（一）有趣又有助於學習者語言能力的繪本教學活動亦適用於成人華語學習者，可見繪本教學不只是兒童的專利；（二）繪本教學能為學習者帶來語言認知、情意上的助益，並彌補正規課程的不足；（三）繪本運用於成人華語教學時，繪本適合與否主要取決於「語言程度」、「繪本題材」與「圖片色彩與畫風」，其中又以「語言程度」最為重要，優先於另外兩者；而就主題而言，與「生活」及「文化」有關的內容最吸引學習者；（四）受限於免費課課程課時短少、分散，且對學習者缺乏約束力與強制力的特性，繪本教學在語言新知與技能提升方面的成效並不明顯，但可作為正規課的複習與輔助教材；（五）繪本運用於中級成人華語免費班教學所遭遇的主要困難為：難以找到與學習者語言程度相符的繪本、過於分散的課型易打斷繪本情節的連續性、免費班學習者語言程度不一。 最後根據調查結果提出華語文教學上的啟發與後續研究建議，以供華語文教學者在成人華語繪本教學方面的參考。 / This study applied picture books to an adult CSL free course, aiming to investigate adult CSL (Chinese as a second language) learners’ perspectives toward using picture books in adult CSL teaching, and the learning efficiency through picture book instruction. The research methods adopted in the study include needs analysis, classroom observations, and focus group interview. The participants of the study are intermediate-level students from a Chinese language center of a university in Northern Taiwan. The results of this study are (1) picture book instruction with interesting and language skill enhancing teaching activities suits adult CSL learners; (2) picture book instruction can benefit adult CSL learners both cognitively and affectively; (3) When using picture books to teach adult CSL learners, the main concerns are language difficulty, topic choice, and the style of pictures; (4) as the instruction time for the adult CSL free course is short and scattered, and it lacks the mandatory and binding force, such picture book instruction does not improve learners’ vocabulary and grammars significantly; however, it may serve as a good supplementary or review course; (5) the three major challenges for picture book adult free CSL course instruction are choices of picture book to suit learners’ needs, short and scattered instruction time, and learners’ various proficiency levels. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research are included in the end of the thesis