Communicating Climate Change Risk to Children: A Thematic Analysis of Children’s Literature

Author(s):  
Sarah V. Benevento
Author(s):  
Tom Dobson ◽  
Lisa Stephenson ◽  
Ana De Arede

Abstract Story Makers Press (SMP) is a University-based publisher which co-constructs stories with under-represented groups of children in order to diversify representation in children’s literature and disrupt the way adult perceptions of normality pattern children’s literature (aetonormativity). In this paper we analyse six drama and creative writing workshops run by SMP with Czech and Slovak Roma children from an inner city primary school in the north of England to co-construct a story about climate change. Our analysis identifies how in developing the story, the children were often reluctant to draw upon their funds of knowledge relating to their Roma backgrounds, instead Westernising their protagonists and settings. We also explore how the children disrupt aetonormativity by interweaving magical elements into realistic narrative about climate change in order to establish a genre of magical realism. Finally, we identify how this genre of magical realism is problematic when considering stereotypical depictions of Roma characters in children’s literature and how changes were made to our story in light of a critical race theory reading of the first draft. As well as helping SMP to refine its processes, this analysis suggests that minority groups such as Roma need to be able to draw upon more literary representations of Roma in order to shape their creative outputs and that the curriculum needs to focus on developing children’s critical responses to the representation of minority ethnic groups in children’s literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. v-xiv
Author(s):  
Marek Oziewicz ◽  
Lara Saguisag

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingvild Alfheim ◽  
Cecilie Dyrkorn Fodstad

Denne artikkelen analyserer Erlend Loe og Alice Bjerknes Lima de Farias bildebok Rumpemelk fra Afrika (2012). Her foretar vi en tematisk analyse av det imaginære Afrika som presenteres gjennom hovedpersonens Afrika-reise. Reisen er en jakt etter det som blir betegnet som «rumpemelk». Bildeboka er postmoderne og plasserer seg i en tradisjon etter fabelen, der fantasi, lek og besjelte dyr er sentrale element, men parodi og intertekstualitet spiller også en sentral rolle i hvordan det imaginære Afrika gestaltes. Målet med artikkelen er å foreta en tematisk lesning som undersøker hvordan bildebokas intertekstuelle og parodiske dialog med tidligere Afrika-forestillinger i barnelitteraturen danner grunnlaget for det imaginære Afrika som presenteres i denne spesifikke boka. This article on Erlend Loe og Alice Bjerknes Lima de Faria’s picture book Rumpemelk fra Afrika (2012) is a thematic analysis of the imaginary Africa which is portrayed through the protagonist’s journey to Africa in search of what is termed “milk from the bum.” The picture book is a postmodern picture book, and can be placed in the tradition of the fable, where play and fantasy and animated animals are central ingredients, but parody and intertextuality also play a central role in how the imaginary Africa is rendered. This article’s intention is to analyse the way in which this picture book forms an intertextual and parodic dialogue with previous myths and pretexts of the tales of Africa in children’s literature in the creation of the specific imaginary Africa of this book.


Author(s):  
Clare Bradford ◽  
Kerry Mallan ◽  
John Stephens ◽  
Robyn McCallum

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