Read more about Picture books

In this article, the author outlines why and how picture books can be used to teach Democracy and Citizenship. Initially, the typical features of picture books are described, and the author points out connections to the English Subject Curriculum and the interdisciplinary topic Democracy and Citizenship. In the main bulk of the article, the author presents picture books which deal with different aspects of democracy and citizenship, such as respect and tolerance, cultural diversity, preventing the formation of prejudices, moral decision making, social responsibility and activism, human rights, the right to vote and last but not least, dreaming of and hoping for a better world. 

In addition to providing the readers with an introductory part about picturebooks and their unique qualities, the author presents a wide selection of picturebooks along with practical teaching ideas. Since picturebooks are particularly highlighted as a teaching resource in the Curriculum in English, this book can serve as a rich source of inspiration for teachers to work with picturebooks in their English classroom.

This book contains contributions from many scholars in both Norway and the UK; it provides the reader with profound knowledge of literature for children and young adults. The editors have included a separate chapter about picturebooks in which they deal with the typical features of picturebooks in addition to presenting different picturebooks along with practical pedagogic strategies for the classroom. The combination of theory and practice and its extensive attention to the Curriculum in English (LK20) makes it a valuable source for all teachers of English.

In this article, Debbie Bradbery, discusses how children’s literature can help students develop their understanding of global citizenship. Her key point is that through literature, children meet other children and their families, different settings and cultures which are in some ways similar to their way of life and in other ways different from their own. Bradbery emphasizes that literature can contribute to developing students’ multicultural awareness and their cultural identity.

Article: Using Children's Literature to Build Concepts of Teaching about Global Citizenship

In his article, Steven Wolk discusses different aspects of democracy like moral decision making, tolerance and respect, caring and empathy, social responsibility and activism and cultural appreciation. He suggests how different picture books can support teachers and students to engage in dialogue about these central issues of democracy. 

Article: Using Picture Books to Teach for Democracy

In this article, the author claims that picture books are a major teaching resource to optimize young students’ learning of English. Young learners love being read aloud to. Picture books provide learners with authentic language, they can enjoy a complete story and the sentence structure is often simple and repetitive so that students can join in. Furthermore, the interdependence of pictures and text, iconotext, supports learners acquiring words and phrases from the context. In the article, Mellegård presents some picture books and gives examples of learning activities to be used with these.