The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books
J. Allen Williams, Christopher Podeschi, Nathan Palmer, Philip Schwadel, Deanna Meyler
Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children's books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a decline in the perceived relevance of these environmental issues and resulted in fewer stories and depictions. Our findings support the isolation hypothesis. There have been significant declines in depictions of natural environments and animals while built environments have become much more common. These findings suggest that today's generation of children are not being socialized, at least through this source, toward an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the place of humans within it.
Sociological Inquiry
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dialogue Social Sciences
environmental impact Social Sciences
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animal Social Sciences
biodiversity Social Sciences
Environmental issues Social Sciences
socialization Social Sciences
childhood Social Sciences
Williams, J. A., Podeschi, C., Palmer, N., Schwadel, P., & Meyler, D. (2012). The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books. Sociological Inquiry, 82(1), 145-159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00399.x
The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books. / Williams, J. Allen; Podeschi, Christopher; Palmer, Nathan; Schwadel, Philip; Meyler, Deanna.
In: Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 82, No. 1, 02.2012, p. 145-159.
Williams, JA, Podeschi, C, Palmer, N, Schwadel, P & Meyler, D 2012, 'The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books', Sociological Inquiry, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 145-159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00399.x
Williams JA, Podeschi C, Palmer N, Schwadel P, Meyler D. The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books. Sociological Inquiry. 2012 Feb;82(1):145-159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00399.x
Williams, J. Allen ; Podeschi, Christopher ; Palmer, Nathan ; Schwadel, Philip ; Meyler, Deanna. / The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books. In: Sociological Inquiry. 2012 ; Vol. 82, No. 1. pp. 145-159.
@article{5a28df090a7c4327b3d89497ea71ee90,
title = "The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books",
abstract = "Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children's books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a decline in the perceived relevance of these environmental issues and resulted in fewer stories and depictions. Our findings support the isolation hypothesis. There have been significant declines in depictions of natural environments and animals while built environments have become much more common. These findings suggest that today's generation of children are not being socialized, at least through this source, toward an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the place of humans within it.",
author = "Williams, {J. Allen} and Christopher Podeschi and Nathan Palmer and Philip Schwadel and Deanna Meyler",
doi = "10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00399.x",
journal = "Sociological Inquiry",
T1 - The human-environment dialog in award-winning children's picture books
AU - Williams, J. Allen
AU - Podeschi, Christopher
AU - Palmer, Nathan
AU - Schwadel, Philip
AU - Meyler, Deanna
N2 - Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children's books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a decline in the perceived relevance of these environmental issues and resulted in fewer stories and depictions. Our findings support the isolation hypothesis. There have been significant declines in depictions of natural environments and animals while built environments have become much more common. These findings suggest that today's generation of children are not being socialized, at least through this source, toward an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the place of humans within it.
AB - Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children's books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a decline in the perceived relevance of these environmental issues and resulted in fewer stories and depictions. Our findings support the isolation hypothesis. There have been significant declines in depictions of natural environments and animals while built environments have become much more common. These findings suggest that today's generation of children are not being socialized, at least through this source, toward an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the place of humans within it.
U2 - 10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00399.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00399.x
JO - Sociological Inquiry
JF - Sociological Inquiry