For decades, American children have grown up reading classic storybooks featuring animal protagonists like Curious George, The Berenstain Bears and Clifford the Big Red Dog. As parents and caregivers, many of us now delight in sharing these enduring characters with a new generation of little ones. During this ritual, we may be aware that in addition to the joy of snuggling up close and sharing beloved stories, we are also extending our children’s vocabulary and boosting their cognitive development. A recent study on children’s books highlights another learning process taking place that may be less apparent, however: the pictures of animals in these books are shaping our children’s perceptions of the natural world.
A recent collaboration between the University of Washington, Northwestern University, and the American Indian Center of Chicago considers how cultural orientation affects the way illustrators portray animals in picture books. Past research has shown that Native Americans view themselves as more psychologically close to the natural world than do European Americans, and the study’s authors hypothesized that the illustrations in 42 Native-authored books and 44 non-Native-authored books would reflect this difference. They suggested that the Native-authored books would be more likely to use illustrative devices that minimize psychological distance between characters and readers, such as allowing readers to adopt the perspective of characters in the story. They also hypothesized that Native books would more often portray animals in their natural settings rather than featuring them as human surrogates.
As predicted, the Native books portrayed less psychological distance between the reader and the animal characters. Strikingly, the Native books were more than twice as likely to use over-the-shoulder shots from the perspective of the animal characters, and none of these animals were anthropomorphized. By inviting children into storybooks and encouraging them to consider animals’ perspectives, illustrations in Native books may invoke greater sympathy for and connection to the natural world. Further research is needed to illuminate the links between these illustrative devices and their impact on early science learning. For now, parents interested in encouraging empathy for the natural world during story time may want to add some books to the nightly repertoire that invite young readers to see the world through an animal’s eyes. Some of the Native-authored books that were used in the study, listed below, may be the perfect place to start.
Bang, M., Alfonso, J., Faber, L., Marin, A., Marin, M., Medin, D., Waxman, S., & Woodring, J. (in press). Perspective taking in early childhood books: Implications for early science learning. Cultural Studies of Science Education.