Facing Medusa: Approaches to Trauma in Children's Literature

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Care, Trauma, and Philosophy in Teaching and Teacher Education

Abstract

Children must be sensitive to the traumas of others and be able to process traumas they experience and hear about. Children’s literature provides narratives for learning about and making sense of trauma and serve as a popular resource among early childhood educators. In this paper, I refer to a number of well-regarded recently published children’s books and argue they are a limited resource when drawn on exclusively. Drawing on narrative theory, I argue that these texts require additional adult processing support or the use of alternative texts. In making this argument, I couple a close reading of the texts with narrative theory as well as writings on the pedagogical value of narrative from psychology and teacher-research.

Author

• Cara Elizabeth Furman, University of Maine at Farmington