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Children's Literature in Education

, Volume 47, Issue 3, pp 191–208 | Cite as

On the Margins: The Depiction of Muslims in Young Children’s Picturebooks

  • Heidi J. Torres
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

There are few empirical studies that examine the depiction of Muslims in children’s literature. Given the influence of US media on perspectives of Muslims (Jackson, 2010), and the pervasive use of children’s literature in American schools, it is important to investigate what viewpoints about Islam are being communicated to children through these texts. In this qualitative study, the author uses inductive content analysis to examine the depiction of Muslims in picturebooks written for young children and in English, an area of study in which very little research has been conducted. Themes that emerged within and across texts are discussed and illustrated with examples from the books in the sample. Perspectives about Islam communicated through these themes are described. The author discusses the implications of the findings for Muslims and non-Muslims, making suggestions to enhance the depiction of Muslims and make them more visible in the literature, benefitting all readers in the process.

Keywords

Islam Muslims Religion Young children Picturebooks Multicultural literature 
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Supplementary material

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Indiana UniversityBloomingtonUSA

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