Journal of Education & Social Policy

Historical Perspectives of Canadian Children’s Picture Books: an Empirical Study of Canadian Literacy Practices and the Canadian Identity
Kari-Lynn Winters, Tiffany L. Gallagher

Abstract
This paper contributes to dialogues about children’s literature and literacy research by looking at how representations of print-literacy have been contextualized in 250 Canadian picture books published across a forty-year period. This study’s quantitative analysis asks how authors and illustrators represent literacy events and how these representations may/may not play a role in constituting Canada’s norms around literacy. New Literacy Studies perspectives are employed as theoretical and analytic frameworks. Results suggest that, to some extent books do reflect Canadian’s structured routines, inclusivity, and shape how Canadians portray themselves. Literature intervenes in our lives, affirming our ideologies and reflecting our beliefs.

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