Exploring Challenging Picturebooks in Education

What should children and students read? This volume explores challenging picturebooks as learning materials in early childhood education, primary and secondary school, and even universities. It addresses a wide range of thematic, cognitive, and aesthetic challenges and educational affordances of picturebooks in various languages and from different countries. Written by leading and emerging scholars in the field of picturebook studies and literacy research, the book discusses the impact of challenging picturebooks in a comprehensive manner and combines theoretical considerations, picturebook analyses, and empirical studies with children and students. It introduces stimulating picturebooks from all continents and how they are used or may be used in educational settings and contexts. The chapters touch on subjects like reading promotion, second-language acquisition, art education, interdisciplinary learning, empathy development, minority issues, and intercultural competence. Moreover, they consider relevant aspects of the educational environments, such as the inclusion of picturebooks in the curriculum, the significance of school libraries, and the impact of publishers. Exploring Challenging Picturebooks in Education sheds new light on the multiple dimensions relevant to investigating the impact of picturebooks on learning processes and the development of multimodal literacy competencies. It thus makes a significant contribution to the growing area of picturebook research and will be key reading for educators, researchers, and post-graduate students in the field of literacy studies, children’s literature, and education research.

"[The] case studies illuminate professional practice and there are plenty of applicable ideas for how to promote empathy and to use challenging picture books in ways that engage and hold potential for reframing how books and reading might be considered by non traditional readers. An engaging book that offers potential for developing professional practice." - Jake Hope, The School Librarian

Åse Marie Ommundsen is Professor of Norwegian Literature at the Faculty of Education and International Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway, and Adjunct Professor at Nord University, Norway. She chairs the research project ‘Challenging Picturebooks in Education’.Gunnar Haaland is Associate Professor of Religion and Ethics at the Faculty of Education and International Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. He co-chairs the research project ‘Challenging Picturebooks in Education’.Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer is Professor in the German Department at the University of Tübingen, Germany. She recently edited The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks (Routledge, 2018).