An Investigation of English Children’s Literature in Pakistani Schools (PreK—Grade 3)

Abstract

Children’s literature in the form of picturebooks, storybooks, and anthologies/readers in Pre-Kindergarten (PreK) to Grade 3 holds a special place in literacy development and in the lives of children. While reading children’s literature, developing readers navigate between words and images to form meaning as they read. Although studies in many parts of the world have explored how PreK—Grade 3 (3–7⁺ years) children’s literature functions through the lens of Bishop’s (in Perspectives: Choosing and using books for the classroom, vol. 6, pp. ix–xi, 1990) metaphor windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors, there is a dearth of research in this regard in the Postcolonial Pakistani schools’ booklists context. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study is to explore children’s literature, published in English, used for instructional purposes in PreK—Grade 3 in Postcolonial Pakistani schools. Quantitative analysis indicates a significant relationship between the fee structure of different schools with the number of English picturebooks, storybooks, and anthologies/readers incorporated grade-wise (PreK—Grade 3) on instructional booklists.