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ERIC Number: EJ1271621
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-7779
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Resisting Gentle Bias: A Critical Content Analysis of Family Diversity in Picturebooks
Lo, Rachel Skrlac
Journal of Children's Literature, v45 n2 p16-30 Fall 2019
This critical content analysis of 116 award-winning English language picture storybooks explores depictions of families in order to identify and question dominant family models. Representations of families must be considered in any diversity analysis to ensure all children are capable of seeing families as they appear in communities. The objective for this study was to review a large body of children's literature to analyze the scope of families portrayed. The author provides a cogent analysis of family models (e.g., two-parent, single-parent, blended, extended) analyzed for heteronormative and racial diversity as well other identity categories. This intersectional analysis helps to makes visible patterns of bias that privilege some groups and silence others. Three sets of research questions guided this critical content analysis: (1) What kinds of family models are in this selection of award-winning English-language children's picturebooks from around the world?; (2) What patterns of heteronormativity exist in these books? In what ways can books be read to expand beyond heteronormative assumptions?; and (3) In what other ways are families portrayed as diverse in these books? How do these identity categories (e.g., race, religion) create multiple and intersecting identities? The purpose of this critical content analysis was to build a reading library that would invite a diverse group of children to discuss their lives and talk about their families.
Children's Literature Assembly. e-mail: info@childrensliteratureassembly.org; Web site: https://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/journal.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A