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- Title
Connecting the Dots: Exploring Themes in Adoption Picturebooks.
- Authors
Mattix, April; Crawford, Patricia
- Abstract
Approximately 1.4 million school-aged children entered their families through adoption. As such, adoption represents a real and complex social issue with which young children-adopted or not-can grapple. Adoption picturebooks provide a medium by which children can explore this complicated concept. This manuscript analyzes a standard library collection of adoption picturebooks to explore the salient themes that arise throughout this body of children's literature. Four major, yet overlapping themes emerged: the adopted child as 'precious', the search for identity, the pursuit of adoption, and the need to establish a sense of belonging. This study shows that the themes located within this subset of children's literature are broad, fluid and often intricately woven together; a complexity that is mirrored through the same qualities in life. Through adoption picturebooks, children are provided with a terrain in which to explore the conceptual components that frame their identities and are presented with a space to examine the realities of adoption.
- Subjects
EDUCATION of adopted children; ADOPTION -- Social aspects; PICTURE books for children &; education; CHILDREN'S literature; IDENTITY (Psychology) in children; ADOPTION in literature; STORY plots
- Publication
Early Childhood Education Journal, 2011, Vol 39, Issue 5, p313
- ISSN
1082-3301
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10643-011-0475-8