Abstract
This article explores the kinds of children's books—literary and informative—that can help young readers concern themselves with ecological matters; also the extent to which children’s literature can be employed for the development of an ecological awareness in young readers. Can children’s literature, beyond its inherently anthropocentric basis, also have an ecocentric orientation? Drawing on an example from Greece’s present-day book production and from the category of picturebooks that express environmental concerns, it examines representations of nature within a cultural context as well as narrative composition through two semiotic systems (words and images) in search of emerging ecological messages. In the picturebook selected as a sample—Across the Way by Thodoris Papaioannou and illustrated by Irida Samartzi—(2015) it seems that through the identification of the child reader with a tiny beetle, a suitable framework of narrative empathy is created that serves the ecocentric orientation of the book.
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Notes
Τhe figure reproduced in Fig. 1 is the same one used on the webpage: https://blogg.hvl.no/nachilit/the-natcul-matrix/.
According to the conclusions of the international workshop "Adaptation to Climate Change in Mediterranean Forest Conservation and Management" co-organized by WWF and IUCN in Athens, Greece, between April 14–17, 2008, Mediterranean forests are under threat due to climate change, forest fires, rapid and abrupt land-use changes (mainly due to development pressures and urban sprawl), habitat fragmentation (due to transport infrastructures), resource overexploitation and pollution: https://www.iucn.org/content/mediterranean-forests-under-threat-due-climate-change.
For the “return to oak” solution see: https://www.kathimerini.gr/society/369210/monadiki-lysi-i-epistrofi-sti-velanidia/.
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Danae Soulioti holds a doctoral degree in Children’s Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where she is currently conducting post-doctoral research and teaching as an academic scholar of Children’s Literature. She has published in the records of Greek and international scientific conferences. She has also participated as a scientific assistant in a research program on Children’s Literature conducted at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
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Soulioti, D. Ecocritical Insights: Contemporary Concerns about Forest Ecosystems in a Greek Picturebook. Child Lit Educ 53, 454–467 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-021-09451-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-021-09451-y