Children acquire a variety of information from picture books and apply this information to reality. Fantastic narrative picture books contribute to child development of their imagination by providing various simulated experiences that they cannot experience in reality. The structure of there and back again stories is related to secure base. Child readers are expected to gain real and indirect fictional experiences, which promote psychosocially healthy development. This study quantitatively analyzed the storylines of 217 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories with human protagonists and explored the features of simulated experiences that children get from these. There were many cases in which the protagonists moved by themselves without help in a way impossible in the real world, implying children’s preference for novel experiences. The simplified description of the return movement was consistent with the conditions for establishing a secure base. This would stimulate the readers’ imagination after reading, in addition to the experience of exploration. In storylines with helpers, male protagonists are predominantly moved by the help of imaginary entities, which are consistent with previous studies showing that many male protagonists in picture books reflect the image of active and curious males. Moreover, there were many cases in which child protagonists were helped by imaginary entities associated with animism. Moving to another place with the help of imaginary entities overlaps with the zone of proximal development and is attractive for children. There were many cases in which the protagonists voluntarily moved to or were invited to visit paranormal places and were accepted there. This matches the self-centered nature of children. Cases in which the protagonists partake in adventure or fight in paranormal places are attractive to children and are expected to become materials for fantastic play activities. Storylines often lack clear features. Various narratives without templated contents are expected to encourage children to use their imagination to overcome various difficulties in life.
Published in | International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 11, Issue 3) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13 |
Page(s) | 110-118 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Child Development, Fantasy, Imagination, Picture Books, There and Back Again
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APA Style
Naoko Koda, Kanae Hara. (2023). Analysis of Storyline in Picture Books of Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 11(3), 110-118. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13
ACS Style
Naoko Koda; Kanae Hara. Analysis of Storyline in Picture Books of Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2023, 11(3), 110-118. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13
AMA Style
Naoko Koda, Kanae Hara. Analysis of Storyline in Picture Books of Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. Int J Lit Arts. 2023;11(3):110-118. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13
@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13, author = {Naoko Koda and Kanae Hara}, title = {Analysis of Storyline in Picture Books of Fantastic There and Back Again Stories}, journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts}, volume = {11}, number = {3}, pages = {110-118}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20231103.13}, abstract = {Children acquire a variety of information from picture books and apply this information to reality. Fantastic narrative picture books contribute to child development of their imagination by providing various simulated experiences that they cannot experience in reality. The structure of there and back again stories is related to secure base. Child readers are expected to gain real and indirect fictional experiences, which promote psychosocially healthy development. This study quantitatively analyzed the storylines of 217 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories with human protagonists and explored the features of simulated experiences that children get from these. There were many cases in which the protagonists moved by themselves without help in a way impossible in the real world, implying children’s preference for novel experiences. The simplified description of the return movement was consistent with the conditions for establishing a secure base. This would stimulate the readers’ imagination after reading, in addition to the experience of exploration. In storylines with helpers, male protagonists are predominantly moved by the help of imaginary entities, which are consistent with previous studies showing that many male protagonists in picture books reflect the image of active and curious males. Moreover, there were many cases in which child protagonists were helped by imaginary entities associated with animism. Moving to another place with the help of imaginary entities overlaps with the zone of proximal development and is attractive for children. There were many cases in which the protagonists voluntarily moved to or were invited to visit paranormal places and were accepted there. This matches the self-centered nature of children. Cases in which the protagonists partake in adventure or fight in paranormal places are attractive to children and are expected to become materials for fantastic play activities. Storylines often lack clear features. Various narratives without templated contents are expected to encourage children to use their imagination to overcome various difficulties in life.}, year = {2023} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Analysis of Storyline in Picture Books of Fantastic There and Back Again Stories AU - Naoko Koda AU - Kanae Hara Y1 - 2023/06/06 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13 T2 - International Journal of Literature and Arts JF - International Journal of Literature and Arts JO - International Journal of Literature and Arts SP - 110 EP - 118 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2331-057X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231103.13 AB - Children acquire a variety of information from picture books and apply this information to reality. Fantastic narrative picture books contribute to child development of their imagination by providing various simulated experiences that they cannot experience in reality. The structure of there and back again stories is related to secure base. Child readers are expected to gain real and indirect fictional experiences, which promote psychosocially healthy development. This study quantitatively analyzed the storylines of 217 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories with human protagonists and explored the features of simulated experiences that children get from these. There were many cases in which the protagonists moved by themselves without help in a way impossible in the real world, implying children’s preference for novel experiences. The simplified description of the return movement was consistent with the conditions for establishing a secure base. This would stimulate the readers’ imagination after reading, in addition to the experience of exploration. In storylines with helpers, male protagonists are predominantly moved by the help of imaginary entities, which are consistent with previous studies showing that many male protagonists in picture books reflect the image of active and curious males. Moreover, there were many cases in which child protagonists were helped by imaginary entities associated with animism. Moving to another place with the help of imaginary entities overlaps with the zone of proximal development and is attractive for children. There were many cases in which the protagonists voluntarily moved to or were invited to visit paranormal places and were accepted there. This matches the self-centered nature of children. Cases in which the protagonists partake in adventure or fight in paranormal places are attractive to children and are expected to become materials for fantastic play activities. Storylines often lack clear features. Various narratives without templated contents are expected to encourage children to use their imagination to overcome various difficulties in life. VL - 11 IS - 3 ER -