Troubling Whiteness in Children's Picture Books: Examining the Use of Skin Shade of Illustrated Characters

• In Event: Critical Content Analyses: Explorations of Marginalized Populations and Languages in Literature for Children and Youth

Abstract

Purpose of Study
I focus on representations of skin shade in children’s picturebook illustrations to ask whether contemporary children’s books reflect the multiple experiences and identities in today’s population. Skin shade variance can invoke interpretations of colorism: addressing the pain and division associated with traditional and cultural values assigned to certain physical features. In children’s picturebooks specifically, colorism is a concept that binds race and visual portrayals. Because visuals in children’s picturebooks have the power to instill lasting and troubling impressions in readers, we must establish an attitude of critique. While illustrators work to disrupt the black/white skin shade binary in children’s picturebook illustrations, readers must be able to critique the representation of skin shade and ask how characters of various skin shades are positioned.

Theoretical Framework
For this critical content analysis, Guinier’s (2004) theory of racial literacy and Twine’s (2016) visual sociology inform my analysis of character portrayals in children’s picturebooks and how those portrayals do, or do not, serve as mirrors and windows for young readers. First, Twine (2016) emphasizes the function of visual cues as powerful tools for creating meaning. Ebony Thomas’ (2018) work similarly troubles the use of darkness in visuals as presenting a dilemma for people of color because readers are taught not to “notice the ways race, difference, and darkness” (p. 3) function in media. This darkness continually shapes “our collective consciousness toward perceptions of difference” (p. 2). The three tenets of Guinier’s (2004) theory of racial literacy focus on the socially constructed nature of race, the systemic and structural nature of racism and oppression, and finally, the intersectional nature of race (p. 114-115). These tenets directly informed my analysis of visual character portrayals through coding. By pairing Guinier’s (2004) theory of racial literacy with Twine’s (2016) visual sociology, I am able to focus on how visuals do or do not reflect multiple experiences and what messages character portrayals and skin shade variance communicate.

Methodology and Data Source
This critical content analysis (Short, 2017) involved the examination of eight realistic fiction picturebooks written between 2015 and 2019 with at least one illustrated spread featuring characters with four or more skin shades. To begin, I used the codes of skin shade, relationship, colorblindness, stereotyping, agency, and exoticism, related to the tenets of racial literacy, to analyze the spread with the most characters. I evaluated each spread in order of the codes as written, looking for evidence of each and how each related.

Results and Conclusions
Initial analysis suggests that illustrated portrayals in contemporary picturebooks can serve self-deprecating or self-affirming purposes. Such visuals can lead to false or incomplete understandings because of the stereotypes, geographic and religious essentialism, character agency, illustrator limitations, or racial/ethnic misrepresentations in each spread.

Scholarly Significance
Due to the limitations of picturebooks, misunderstandings are inevitable. By teaching and learning skills of critique, readers can come to new restorative understandings. Pairing texts and engaging in collaborative discussion can empower educators and readers to address problematic messages in picturebook visuals.

Authors

• Mary Adu-Gyamfi, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Christina King, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Edwin Nii Bonney, Radford University