The Curious Case of Not Curious Children: Internalization of Refugee Flight in Picture Books

• In Event: Mobilizing Literacy While Living in the Margins: Writing, Talking, and Reading the World

Abstract

Against the backdrop of highly political discourse around border crossing, this study analyses representations of how children from refugee backgrounds internalize (think, wonder, and feel) conflict leading to displacement in 63 picturebooks. Framed by a critical multicultural perspective in children’s literature and refugee critical race theory (RefugeeCrit), the study interrogates how stories represent power and agency of children and for what implicit purposes. The major findings highlight the counterintuitive lack of children’s curiosity around reasons behind forced displacement, normalizing global social injustices, and supporting legally scripted narratives associated with legal refugee status. We draw implications for centering own voices of children from refugee backgrounds in literary texts and employing critical literacy discussions of existing picturebooks in the classroom.

Authors

• Ekaterina Strekalova-Hughes, University of Missouri - Kansas City

• Kathleen O'Shea, University of Missouri - Kansas City

• Jennifer H. Waddell, University of Missouri - Kansas City