Representations of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Rural Ways of Being in Picture Books

• In Event: Different Worlds: Inclusion and Belonging in Rural Education

Abstract

Using critical content analysis, the purpose of this study is to examine contemporary representations of rural life for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in picture books. Contemporary rural places are uncommonly and often problematically portrayed in picture books. The analysis of the subset of Indigenous-authored books recognizes the stories told by the Indigenous authors and acknowledges how colonization is implicated in the limited availability of these stories on the picture book market. While there is increasing scholarship about rural representation, less is understood about representations of rurality in children’s literature and less still is known about representations that engage the intersection of rurality and minoritized groups such as First Nations peoples.

Authors

• Karen Eppley, Pennsylvania State University

• Shelley Stagg Peterson, OISE/University of Toronto

• Jeffrey W. Wood, Laurentian University