scholarly journals What do we read to our children? Messages concerning ethnic diversity in popular children’s books in the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ymke de Bruijn ◽  
Rosanneke A. G. Emmen ◽  
Judi Mesman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Young Children ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Cultural Authenticity ◽  
Cultural Specificity ◽  
Cultural Details

AbstractChildren’s books can create opportunities for children to see themselves as well as others in different settings and stories, but cultural details and specificity within these stories can play an important role in the messages that children take away. Therefore, the present study aims to provide insight in the messages concerning ethnic diversity and various cultures in a subset of popular books that Dutch young children are likely to be exposed to. Books aimed at young children that were sold or borrowed most often or were awarded between 2009 and 2018 in the Netherlands are examined through the combined lens of critical race theory and critical multicultural analysis. Specifically, books including a protagonist or secondary character of color were selected. The study provides insight in the degree of cultural specificity and cultural authenticity, as well as prevailing power relations between characters and ideologies that are portrayed within the books. Results indicate that while cultural stereotypes and ideologies including White supremacy and eurocentrism are found only in a few books, cultural details are generally lacking and colorblindness is common in books aimed at young children. The study therefore underlines the particular need for books that are culturally specific and include authentic cultural details, to improve the reflection of various cultures and experiences of characters of color.

scholarly journals The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Tuscany

2013 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Picture Books ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Very Young Children ◽  
Specific Goal ◽  
Level Of Understanding

The volume publishes some essays illustrating experiences which attempted to promote reading with very young children in nurseries and infant schools, as part of a project on the picture books by Eric Carle, a well-known American illustrator of children's books. In particular, this initiative took place during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, in a large number of nurseries and infant schools in some areas of Tuscany (Pistoia, Firenze, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Viareggio, and the Empolese area). The main aim of the project, carried out as action-research, was to present the books of Eric Carle and investigate the level of understanding of the stories proposed by the famous illustrator. The specific goal of the project was to introduce teachers, educators, librarians and parents to the picture books written and illustrated by Eric Carle and translated into Italian.

eye brings you another batch of the latest products and books on offer101 Games to Play Before You Grow Up: Exciting and fun games to play anywhere! ISBN 97816332233370 £8.99. Paperback Publisher Walter Foster Jr Orders Tel: 020 77006700 https://www.quarto.com/ Review by Neil HentyBeginning Teaching, Beginning Learning In Early Years and Primary Education (Fifth edition) Edited by Janet Moyles, Jan Georgeson, Jane Payler ISBN 9780335226962 £28.99. Paperback Publisher Open University Press Orders Tel: 0203 4293400 [email protected] www.mheducation.co.uk Review by Neil HentyBuilding Positive Momentum for Positive Behavior in Young Children: Strategies for success in schools and beyond Lisa Rogers ISBN 978 785927744 £19.99 Publisher Jessica Kingsley Publishers Orders Tel: 02078332307 www.jkp.com Review by Neil HentyAfter the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat [£6.99 from Andersen Press; ISBN: 9781783446353]How Does My Fruit Grow by Gerda Muller [£10.99 from Floris Books; ISBN: 9781782504726]Juniper Jupiter by Lizzy Stewart [£11.99 from Frances Lincoln Children's Books; ISBN: 9781786030238]Rainforest by Julia Groves [£6.99 from Child's Play International; ISBN: 9781846439353]Baby Bird by Andrew Gibbs and Zosienka [£11.99 from Frances Lincoln Children's Books; ISBN: 9781786030122]Rowan the Red Squirrel by Lynne Rickards and Jon Mitchell [£6.99 from Picture Kelpies; ISBN: 9781782504771]Using Film to Understand Childhood and Practice Sue Aitken ISBN 9781474274555 £19.99. Paperback Publisher Bloomsbury Orders Tel: 01256 302699; www.bloomsbury.com/uk Review by Neil HentyReflective Playwork: For all who work with children (Second edition) Jacky Kilvington and Ali Wood ISBN 9781474254038 £19.99. Paperback. Publisher Bloomsbury Orders Tel: 01256 302699; www.bloomsbury.com/uk Review by Neil HentySchool Readiness and the Characteristics of Effective Learning: The essential guide for early years practitioners Tamsin Grimmer ISBN 9781785921759 £14.99 Paperback Publisher Jessica Kingsley Publishers Orders Tel: 02078332307 www.jkp.com Review by Neil Henty

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 46-48
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Positive Behavior ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Red Squirrel ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Child's Play ◽  
Humpty Dumpty

scholarly journals What might books be teaching young children about gender?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Lewis ◽  
M. Cooper Borkenhagen ◽  
Ellen Converse ◽  
Gary Lupyan ◽  
Mark S. Seidenberg
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Large Scale Data ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
Gender Biases ◽  
Scale Data ◽  
Early Source

We investigate how gender is represented in children’s books using a novel 200,000 word corpus comprising 247 popular, contemporary books for young children (0-5 years). Using human judgments and word co-occurrence data, we quantified gender biases of words in individual books and in the whole corpus. We find that children’s books contain many words that adults judge as gendered. Semantic analyses based on co-occurrence data yielded word clusters related to gender stereotypes (e.g., feminine: emotions; masculine: tools). Co-occurrence data also indicate that many books instantiate gender stereotypes identified in other research (e.g., girls are better at reading and boys at math). Finally, we used large-scale data to estimate the gender distribution of the audience for individual books, and find that children tend to be exposed to gender stereotypes for their own gender. Together the data suggest that children’s books may be an early source of gender associations and stereotypes.

scholarly journals Children’s Literature in Translation: Towards a Participatory Approach

Humanities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Vanessa Joosen
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
High Level

In the Netherlands and Flanders, more or less a fifth of all children’s books are translations. The decision of what gets translated and funded is, for the most part, informed by adults’ decisions. This paper offers a first step towards a more participatory approach to the translation of books for young readers by investigating children’s understanding of translation processes and the criteria that they put forward as desirable for the international circulation of children’s books. It presents the findings from interviews and a focus group talk with child members of the “Kinder- en Jeugdjury Vlaanderen”, a children’s jury in which the jurors read both original and translated works. While the children did not always realize which books were translated, they did express clear views on their preferred translation strategies, highlighting the potential to learn about other cultures while also voicing concern about readability. They cared less about exporting their own cultural heritage to other countries, and put the focus on the expansion of interesting stories to read as the main benefit of translations. While this project still involved a fairly high level of adult intervention, it makes clear the potential of children to contribute to decisions about the transnational exchange of cultural products developed for them.

(Re)Centering Quality in Early Childhood Education: Toward Intersectional Justice for Minoritized Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Souto-Manning ◽  
Ayesha Rabadi-Raol
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
American English ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Definition Of

In this chapter, we offer a critical intersectional analysis of quality in early childhood education with the aim of moving away from a singular understanding of “best practice,” thereby interrupting the inequities such a concept fosters. While acknowledging how injustices are intersectionally constructed, we specifically identified critical race theory as a counterstory to White supremacy, culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies as counterstories to monocultural teaching practices grounded in deficit and inferiority paradigms, and translanguaging as a counterstory to the (over)privileging of dominant American English monolingualism. While each of these counterstories forefronts one particular dimension of oppression, together they account for multiple, intersecting systems of oppressions; combined, they expand the cartography of early childhood education and serve to (re)center the definition of quality on the lives, experiences, voices, and values of multiply minoritized young children, families, and communities. Rejecting oppressive and reductionist notions of quality, through the use of re-mediation, this article offers design principles for intersectionally just early childhood education with the potential to transform the architecture of quality.

Theorizing a Critical Race Content Analysis for Children’s Literature about People of Color

2020 ◽  
pp. 004208592096371
Author(s):  
Lindsay Pérez Huber ◽  
Lorena Camargo Gonzalez ◽  
Daniel G. Solórzano
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Critical Content ◽  
Critical Content Analysis

Concerns from scholars about the exclusion of People of Color in children’s literature began in the early 20th century and continues today. The lack of children’s literature about People of Color is even more alarming in the contemporary moment, when Children of Color comprise a significant proportion of urban schools throughout the U.S. Only since the 1990’s have scholars begun to critically examine the portrayals of People of Color in children’s books. More recent research offers frameworks and methodologies for critical analyses of children’s books, namely a Critical Content Analysis that offers strategies for the examination of discursive power in literature for youth. This conceptual article theorizes how Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Education can be utilized with a Critical Content Analysis to provide a new framework for the examination of race, class, gender, (and other intersectionalities) in children’s books about People of Color— A Critical Race Content Analysis. We provide guiding principles of a Critical Race Content Analysis and analytical questions as tools for researchers and educators interested in conducting their own critical analyses of books about People of Color. Finally, we illustrate how this analysis is conducted with an example of a children’s book about immigration. This article makes important contributions to the literature on urban education that call for providing educators with tools to develop “racial literacies”.

Death as Seen in Books Suitable for Young Children

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol C. Ordal
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Grieving Process ◽  
Concrete Words

This article summarizes and evaluates thirty-four children's books which deal with death in terms of their usefulness in helping three- to nine-year-old children understand and cope with the concept of death. Included in the analysis are books dealing with death in plants, of an animal, and of a person. In addition, another seventeen books are commented on briefly. All of the books chosen for analysis explain death in a positive way by 1) using direct and concrete words and avoiding euphemisms, 2) involving the main characters in the funeral and at the cemetery, 3) showing respect for and acceptance of feelings, 4) understanding the child's grieving process, and/or 5) ending on a hopeful note with the main characters getting on with life. Some of the books are not only psychologically sound but have creative merit as well. They will help young children begin to make a dialectic synthesis of the opposites they encounter in life–e.g., sadness/joy, love/hate–and to understand that life and death are really one.

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