Readers, Texts and Talk: A Symposium for UKLA - Overcoming adversity through hope: Discussing picture fiction

Mukherjee, Sarah Jane and Cremin, Teresa (2021). Readers, Texts and Talk: A Symposium for UKLA - Overcoming adversity through hope: Discussing picture fiction. In: UKLA 56th International Conference - We need to talk about Literacy: Why spoken language matters in literacy learning and teaching., Fri 2 - Sun 4 Jul 2021, Online.

Abstract

In the context of Covid-19, this project seeks to enable parents and practitioners to support children come to terms with and understand social and emotional challenges. Talking about these is not straightforward, although picture fiction (PF) texts offer potential. From a list of 150+ recent PF books that cover themes such as bereavement, anxiety, illness and reflect multiple diversities (e.g. colourism, diverse cultures, sexuality), 30 books were selected. Drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) & Painter (2008), these polysemic texts were subject to multimodal analysis with a dual focus on how image and text offer meanings that allow readers to connect and build relationships with characters and storylines. A framework to support practitioner and child insights into the subtle meanings in PF is being developed, affording greater confidence in choosing and using such texts. Additionally, resources are being created to encourage in-depth dialogue around these diverse and sensitive topics.