With the wide-spread expectation that children be kept ignorant of adult concerns, children’s authors and illustrators have long struggled to tackle serious social issues in children’s literature. One of these serious issues is environmental degradation. Many children’s picture books have attempted to breach this issue with children over the last several decades, and the number of environmental children’s books have increased exponentially in the last ten years. This presentation will examine the changing landscape of environmental children’s picture books in the last decade, with special attention paid to the framing of environmental issues in text and illustrations. Such attention to framing demonstrates the fine line that authors and illustrators walk while trying to raise awareness in children on the one hand, and shield them on the other.
About the presenterEllen Malven
Ellen goes to Rutgers.