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Fig 14.1 Picture books provide fictional frameworks where children can explore complex issues
Illustration: Hilde Tørnby.
Featured websites
Website 14.1 The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle reads the book that he created.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkYmvxP0AJI
Website 14.2 Caterpillar diet
Information about what caterpillars actually eat from the Butterfly Conservation trust.
https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/what-do-hungry-caterpillars-really-eat
Website 14.3 Cicada
A video dramatization of Shaun Tan’s book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBr550M_kpU
Website 4 Shaun Tan talking about Cicada
Shaun Tan talks about the ideas behind his story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnIs_mMKfoU
Website 5 The Lorax
A read-aloud video version of Dr. Seuss’s story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLFHdMNin0c
Albert Upside Down by Ian Brown (Grafegg 2021).
Albert, the tortoise, has ended up on his shell, upside down, but is put back on his feet with help of the other garden animals.
Belonging by Jeannie Baker (Walker Books 2008).
In this wordless book a gritty city is gradually transformed with plants and wildlife, helping a young girl connect to the land.
Grace and Family by Mary Hoffman (Frances Lincoln 1998).
Grace receives an invitation to visit her father who she has never met in The Gambia and learns that families are what you make them.
The Bee Book by Charlotte Milner (Dorling Kindersley 2018).
A factual picture book depicting the life of bees and some consequences if bees are extinct. It also describes what we can do to help bees thrive.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (Penguin 2019).
A story about love and friendship between four very different animals.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (Harper and Row 1964).
A boy and a tree have a special connection throughout the boy’s childhood. The book is read as a criticism of man’s greed but also as the importance of nature.
The Promise by Nicola Davies (Walker Books 2013).
A magical story about a young girl’s change and transformation when she sets out to plant seeds.
Fiction books
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Disney-Hyperion 2016).
This captivating story describes Subhi’s life as a refugee growing up in an Australian detention centre. His friendship with Jimmi from the outside becomes vital for his personal growth.
The Boy in the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf (Yearling 2020).
The story of a refugee boy coming to the UK unfolds as he grapples with his traumatic past and adapts to a regular life.
Reference books
Picture Books in the Classroom, Perspectives on Life Skills, Sustainable Development and Democracy and Citizenship by Hilde Tørnby (Fagbokforlaget, 2020).
This book gives a theoretical introduction to some central topics in the theoretical field of picture books and provides didactic approaches to how these ideas may be embedded in teaching.
The Routledge Companion to Picture Books edited by Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (Routledge, 2017).
This anthology includes a wide array of research articles on picture books.
Other resources
Human rights education
A range of resources for pupils of different ages from Amnesty International.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/education-resources
