Shadow in children’s picturebooks: highlighting children’s perspectives

ABSTRACT

This study presents how five five-year-olds express different ways of experiencing the multifaceted phenomenon of shadow, when reading and listening to picturebooks about shadow in a Swedish preschool. This is studied with attention to children's perspectives on shadow as it appears in conversations about the picturebooks. The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about ways of experiencing shadow, foregrounded in children’s conversations about picturebooks, and answers the question ‘How do children experience shadow when discussing picturebooks about shadow?’ The results show that, in conversations about the picturebooks, the children express that they experience shadow as visible with light and projection surface, as manageable like tangible objects, as being influenced by someone or something, and as self-acting with fictional abilities. The children often express their experiencing shadow as related to experiences of shadow from their everyday lives, and less often as something fictional and aesthetic.

KEYWORDS:

• Picturebooks
• children's perspectives
• shadow
• imagination
• fiction

Introduction

This study focuses on children’s ways of experiencing the multifaceted phenomenon of shadow in picturebooks. Shadow can be described as an everyday phenomenon but also as a scientific phenomenon, or can be included in human sciences such as phenomena within folklore, art, and fiction. Since it can be understood in many ways, there are also several ways to depict shadow in picturebooks. Hence, the focus in the current study is on children’s expressed ways of experiencing shadow when listening to and talking about picturebooks on shadows that are read aloud. This is studied with attention to children's perspectives on shadow.

The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge about ways of experiencing shadow, foregrounded in children’s conversations about picturebooks. Using children’s perspectives in research entails listening to and analysing the children’s own expressed words, thoughts, and actions (Sommer, Pramling Samuelsson, and Hundeide 2010). Hence, the research question is ‘How do children experience shadow when discussing picturebooks about shadow?’. This is studied in an analysis of how five five-year-olds, through words and actions, express ways of experiencing the shadow phenomenon in conversations when reading and listening to four picturebooks. An idea, generated from a variation theoretical view of learning (Marton 2015), is that the children’s ways of experiencing are based on their previous experiences and opportunities they are offered to discern something new in conversations during the read-alouds.

The basic rationale for including children’s perspectives on content in picturebooks is that picturebooks for children are interpreted by children. If phenomena in picturebooks, for example shadow, can be experienced in multidimensional ways, it is important to learn about children's ways of experiencing such phenomena; because it is only when adults are aware of children's experiences, perceptions, and understanding of content in picturebooks that picturebooks can be made more explicable and accessible for children.

Previous studies, focusing how children of preschool age respond to picturebooks, have primarily addressed children’s understanding of stories or pictures (Arizpe and Styles 2003, 2016; Asplund Carlsson 1998; Solstad 2015; Sipe 2008) rather than their ways of experiencing a phenomenon in the books. Different ways of experiencing a central phenomenon in picturebooks could be important for children's understanding and commitment to the content of a picture book. Hence, it is important to conduct research that focuses on what is foregrounded in children's conversations about a multifaceted phenomenon in picturebooks. For this reason, this study focuses on how children express that the phenomenon of shadow emerges in reading activities.

Children's perspectives

The concepts child perspectives and children's perspectives (Sommer, Pramling Samuelsson, and Hundeide 2010) can be used in most contexts that affect children in one way or another. One of the first to specify child perspectives was Bronfenbrenner (1979) who stated that child perspectives are applied when adults successfully strive to understand children's special experiences and understandings of their own lives. Although the intention in child perspectives is to get close to the children's world of experiences, this concept is an expression of adult objectification of children, according to Sommer, Pramling Samuelsson, and Hundeide (2010).

The concept of child perspectives involves adults focusing on an understanding of children's perceptions, experiences, and actions in the world, while that of children's perspectives instead represents children's own experiences, perceptions, and understanding (Sommer, Pramling Samuelsson, and Hundeide 2010). The difference between the concepts is exemplified here in two examples: (1.) A researcher who takes children's perspectives analyses children's own expressed experiences, perceptions, and understanding about books, while a researcher employing child perspectives in his or her research analyses what the books are presumed to offer children as readers and listeners when it comes to experiences, perceptions, and understanding. (2.) Authors or illustrators who approach child perspectives in writing or illustrating books for children base their text and illustrations on what they believe children have experience of, and what they believe children can understand and experience. Meanwhile, authors and illustrators who base their books on children's perspectives listen to how children themselves express their experiences, perceptions, and understanding of what the book is planned to be about.

In children's literature research picturebooks are often described as art and aesthetic objects, which do not necessarily have children as their intended readers (Nikolajeva 2014; Sipe 2008). Arizpe and Styles (2003) emphasise that picturebooks are primarily a product for children, but state that modern, sophisticated picturebooks require sophisticated reading. However, the aesthetic development of the picture book could be a challenge for both children and adult readers (Asplund Carlsson 2003). This description of picturebooks as a challenge and difficult to understand can be interpreted as an indication that children's perspectives is not present when these picturebooks are written. When Arizpe and Styles (2003) interviewed picture book authors and illustrators, they expressed attempts to take child perspectives in their illustrations and authorship, but did not describe taking children’s perspectives.

Until recently, interest in children's own statements about picturebooks has been limited in children's literature research (Arizpe and Styles 2003; Sipe 2008), but is changing as more and more researchers are interested in children's own interpretations of books written for children (Arizpe and Styles 2016). One of the earlier research projects on children's literature in preschool, based on children's perspectives was Children, Narratives and Books in Preschool (1993–1995). The project aimed to study how children of preschool age experience different stories and to test a preschool-pedagogical approach regarding children's literature (Asplund Carlsson 1998). Over the past two decades, several researchers have noted the lack of children interpreting children's books in children's literature research (Arizpe and Styles 2003, 2016; Solstad 2015; Sipe 2008). Although there is previous children's literature research on children's understanding of stories or pictures, more research is needed which, for example, highlights how multifaceted phenomena in picturebooks are experienced by children.

Experiences, imagination, and fiction

Children's experiences and imagination are fundamental when it comes to their way of experiencing content in picturebooks. According to Vygotsky ([1930] 2004), there is a connection between children's imagination and reality; it is children's experiences that form the basis for their ability to imagine (envision) something. ‘The richer a person’s experience, the richer is the material his imagination has access to. This is why a child has a less rich imagination than an adult, because his experience has not been as rich’ (Vygotsky ([1930] 2004, 15). Nikolajeva also describes that fiction and reality are mutually dependent, but says there are differences between their conceptual definitions. In literature research, fiction is something invented by authors and something that cannot be proven to be reality, while Vygotsky writes that imagination as an everyday concept means fantasising about something that is not actually true, that does not correspond to reality. But as a scientific concept, imagination involves the ability to envision something, a creative ability.

If we use the everyday concept of imagination (fantasising) to mean things that are made up and unreal, children have more imagination than adults, according to Vygotsky ([1930] 2004). There is a difference between children's own imaginations (fantasies) and their ability to imagine (envision) fictitious representations and artistic expressions that, for example, authors present to readers of picturebooks. If children have less ability to imagine (envision) something they have no experiences of, it is worth noting that children's picturebooks mainly contain fictional representations and artistic expressions that children are expected to interpret.

The above reasoning about experiences, imagination, and fiction is interesting in relation to the project Children, narratives and books in preschool (Asplund Carlsson 1998), which focused on what children can learn from stories. It turned out that none of the six-year-olds in the study who read and processed stories with their teacher distinguished realistic stories from fantastic ones, but some of them could distinguish their own world of experience from the world of fiction. Recent studies have shown that most children like realism in picturebooks and may have difficulty distinguishing non-realistic aspects from realistic ones (Arizpe and Styles 2016). The fact that children have exhibited difficulties in distinguishing fantasy from realism may be related to their limited experiences (Vygotsky [1930] 2004).

In previous research, preschool children do not give expression to entering the fictional worlds of picturebooks. When Sipe (2008) described four- to seven-year-olds’ reactions to picturebooks, the most common response was that the children considered what was said and seen in the book in order to create meaning (an analytical response). The least common reactions to the picturebooks involved responses in which the children were believed to have entered the fictional world of the story (a transparent response). Sipe prefers to discuss this result with circumspection, reflecting on whether silence might be an expression of the children's involvement in the book. The results offer no evidence for this, however: ‘It is possible that the chunks of silence on the children’s part were more indicative of their aesthetic reception and transparent stance than any verbal responses could be; yet, silence constitutes only negative evidence’ (169). Consequently, studying children's reactions to picturebooks based on their statements means that only what the children themselves express in words and actions is analysable.

Method

This study uses an explorative approach, and intends to contribute knowledge about ways of experiencing shadow, foregrounded in children's conversations about picturebooks. An exploratory approach is useful for showing what is to be noticed in a limited research area, and to create an overview that indicates a direction for continued research (Pramling 2010). With its exploratory approach, the present study can create an overview with attention to children's ways of experiencing an ambiguous phenomenon in picturebooks. The results can serve as a starting point for further studies about children's perspectives on picture book content.

How children experience shadow when discussing picturebooks about shadow is studied through reading activities at a preschool. When shadow was chosen as the phenomenon for this study, it was important that it could be understood in multifaceted ways; as an everyday phenomenon, a scientific phenomenon or included in human sciences such as within folklore, art, and fiction. In addition, children aged three to six have every day experiences of shadow as the phenomenon occurs on a daily basis in their lives. There were four picturebooks on shadow in Swedish published in the last ten years (2005–2015) for children aged three to six. These books, selected for this study, are Den svarta kaninen [The Black Rabbit] (Leathers 2014), Skuggsidan [The Shadow Side] (Gustavsson 2013), Skuggbarnen [The Shadow Children] (Stark and Höglund 2014), and En bok om solen [A Book about the Sun] (Stalfelt 2006).

The picturebooks depict shadow in three different ways. First and foremost, it is depicted as an everyday phenomenon, portrayed as an image of someone or something. This representation can be found in all the study's picturebooks on shadow. Another way of describing shadow in the picturebooks is related to scientific explanations. In two of the books, Den svarta kaninen and En bok om solen, shadow is explained (explicitly and implicitly) as a light phenomenon. The third way of depiction is more related to shadow as phenomena included in human sciences such as within folklore, art, and fiction. It is portrayed as an artistic and imaginative image of someone or something, a representation of death, and a terrifying figure in Skuggsidan; and as a reflection of the soul and as a place where dreams and fairy tales live in Skuggsidan and Skuggbarnen. Thus, shadow is treated as a multifaceted phenomenon in these four picturebooks.

An experienced teacher and five five-year-olds at a Swedish preschool, volunteered to participate in the study. The children had a mixed economic background and Swedish as their mother tongue. Reading aloud was a daily activity at the preschool. The teacher had previously been involved in developmental work aiming at stimulating children’s curiosity, imagination, creativity and critical thinking through picturebooks. The teacher had also carried out a project on light and shadow with the children the year before the study's reading activities on shadow took place.

The teacher as well as the participating children’s legal guardians gave written consent for participation in the study. Before the reading activities, the children were informed about the study and told that their participation was optional. The teacher was informed that she could talk about the content of the books in the way she usually does when reading books aloud with children; she was thus given the opportunity to decide for herself how the shadow phenomenon should be handled in the reading activities.

The reading activities were video-recorded on four occasions, all within a period of a month in spring 2016. The same teacher and children participated on all occasions. The children were Jenny, Maj, Albin, Edvin, and Ruben (all names are fictive). The video material consists of 93 min of video, distributed across four reading activities (27 + 27 + 19 + 20 min = 93 min). All video material was transcribed afterwards. In the empirical examples, what the children and teacher say and do is shown in normal text, and when something is read from the children's books it is shown in italics. Actions are shown in parentheses.

Analysis of ways of experiencing shadow

In order to contribute knowledge about ways of experiencing shadow, foregrounded in children’s conversations about picturebooks, variation theory (Marton 2015; Marton, Runesson, and Tsui 2004) is used in the analysis of the reading activities. Within this theory, it is emphasised that ‘language plays a central role in the construal of experience, that it does not simply represent experience, as is widely perceived, but more importantly, it constitutes experience’ (Marton, Runesson, and Tsui 2004, 25). In the analysis of the empirical material in the present study, this means that what the children say and do concerning shadow is regarded as an expression of their ways of experiencing shadow. The analysis will show qualitatively different ways of experiencing shadow based on what the children express in words and actions.

A particular way of experiencing shadow is to discern certain aspects of it simultaneously. When the children and teacher are talking about shadows in the picturebooks, aspects of shadow are opened up for exploration. The question ‘How do children experience shadow when discussing picturebooks about shadow?’ is thus answered through a variation theoretical analysis of which aspects of shadow are foregrounded in the reading activities.

In the analysis, the concepts of experiencing, aspects, and variation are linked together. A certain way of experiencing shadow involves the way the aspects of shadow vary. Aspects of shadow that are explicitly discerned by the children in their reading of the picturebooks constitute their ways of experiencing shadow. When they pay attention to occurrences related to shadow in the picturebooks, for example saying that shadow is visible when there is sun, or that the shadow does the same thing as the figure who has the shadow, they are expressing a discernment of different aspects of shadow that can be analysed. In other words, there is a relation between what is offered to discern and how this is made discernable through variation, and the children’s ways of experiencing what is offered. With such an analysis, it is possible to gain a deeper understanding of how the children's perspectives on shadow are constituted and how this relates to the ways in which the phenomenon appears in discussions about the picturebooks.

Results

The question ‘How do children experience shadow when discussing picturebooks about shadow?’ is answered through a variation theoretical analysis of which aspects are foregrounded. In the analysis, four qualitatively different categories emerged based on how the children, in their words and actions, expressed ways of experiencing shadow:

• Shadow experienced as visible with light and projection surface

• Shadow experienced as manageable like tangible objects

• Shadow experienced as being influenced by someone or something

• Shadow experienced as self-acting with fictional abilities

Table 1 provides an overview of the children's ways of experiencing shadow in relation to which picturebooks they read and talked about. In the first reading activity (Den svarta kaninen) many aspects of shadow became discernible to the children. In the second reading activity (Skuggsidan), there were fewer occasions in which aspects of shadow emerged as discernable to the children. This is one of the rare reading activities when the children expressed a way of experiencing shadow as self-acting with fictional abilities (Table 1). In the third reading activity (Skuggbarnen), the children were quite silent compared to the other reading activities, rarely giving any expression to discerning aspects of shadow at all (Table 1). In the fourth reading activity, the book En bok om solen created a great deal of interest in conversations about its content, but few of its pictures involve shadow. However, when the children did discern aspects of shadow, shadow as visible with light and projection surface was foregrounded.

Table 1. Ways of experiencing shadow in the reading activities.

Picture books	Shadow experienced as …
	visible with light and projection surface	manageable like tangible objects	being influenced by someone or something	self-acting with fictional abilities
Den svarta kaninen [The Black Rabbit]	X	X	X
Skuggsidan [The Shadow Side]		X	X	X
Skuggbarnen [The Shadow Children]			X
En bok om solen [A Book about the Sun]	X

As Table 1 shows, there are many ways of experiencing shadow in the first and second reading activities involving Den svarta kaninen and Skuggsidan. These two activities contain several empirical examples that illustrate the four ways of experiencing shadow. In the following four sections, a selection of examples from the reading activities involving Den svarta kaninen and Skuggsidan will be used to illustrate ways of experiencing shadow when children listen to and discuss picturebooks about shadows that are read aloud.

Shadow experienced as visible with light and projection surface

Several times during the conversation about Den svarta kaninen, the children express that whether or not shadow can be seen has to do with whether it is light or dark in the book's illustration: shadow is experienced as visible when there is light in the illustration. But the children also express that it is not only light that is needed for shadows to be visible. In Excerpt 1, the children pay attention to the differences in how the shadow is visible on reeds. Here, shadow is experienced as visible if there is a projection surface. The shadow falls on the reeds, where the surface to project the shadow on is partly missing. This means that Jenny discerns the difference between a projected and a non-projected shadow:

Excerpt 1

The teacher has read the book with the children. She and the children are now browsing the book and talking about some pictures that they point out as particularly interesting. Here, the children’s attention is directed at the fact that parts of the ears in the rabbit's shadow are missing.

Book Spread pp. 12–13 in Den svarta kaninen

Jenny: A shadow.

Teacher: I actually see something exciting here on the shadow. If you think, look here, the rabbit has whole ears, but there the ears aren’t whole (points to the rabbit’s shadow in the book). It’s like pieces chopped out of the ears.

Albin: Maybe somebody cut them? (shows his fingers as scissors).

Teacher: Hmmm … (looks at Jenny).

Jenny: Or it's grass … or you don't see … or you don't see it when it's light there.

Teacher: You think you only see, only where it’s shining … or where the shadow’s on the grass. Because over there maybe it's just air? That was an ingenious thought (turns the page in the book).

When the teacher points out that parts of the ears in the shadow are missing and the children notice this, the children's previous expressed ways of experiencing the visibility of shadow is challenged. The conversation is now directed toward the surface where the shadow is visible and where there is no surface for it to be cast on. Jenny expresses that the difference between whether or not the shadow is visible has to do with not being able to see the whole shadow of the ears between the blades of grass, where there is no surface for it to be cast on. According to her, there is light between the blades of grass. Crucial to Jenny’s experiencing shadow as visible with a projection surface is the discernment of differences when parts of the shadow are not visible.

Shadow experienced as manageable like tangible objects

In the same situation in which the teacher challenges the children’s ways of experiencing the visibility of shadow and Jenny discerns visibility (see Excerpt 1), Albin expresses that shadow can be cut like one can cut a piece of paper. Shadow is thus experienced as manageable like tangible objects. Differences are visible in the picture; pieces of the rabbit's ears are gone, which means that the shadow appears to Albin to be manageable like tangible objects. It looks as if someone has handled (cut) the shadow with scissors. In the book's illustrations, the shadow is contrasted because it is both visible and not visible when parts of the ears are missing in the shadow. Guided by the picture in the book and the teacher's description that it is like ‘pieces chopped out of the ears’, Albin expresses that pieces of the rabbit's ears are cut away. Crucial to his experiencing shadow as manageable as objects is the discernment of differences as pieces of the shadow appear to be cut away.

Shadow experienced as being influenced by someone or something

When the teacher reads the book Skuggsidan, on several previous occasions the children have already expressed that they experience shadow as being influenced by someone or something. For example, in the first reading activity, the children expressed that it is the little rabbit that ‘makes’ the black rabbit as a shadow image. In Excerpt 2 the children's previously expressed way of experiencing shadow is challenged, as movement in the making of shadow becomes the focus. But the teacher and children continue talking about the notion that it is the person who makes the shadow who determines its shape and actions.

Excerpt 2

The teacher reads the book aloud, and now and then she and the children stop to exchange thoughts and investigate shadows they wonder about in the book. In the book, Ragnar’s shadow has wings, like an angel. The children begin to wave with their arms to recreate the shadow they see in the book. In the room where they are sitting and reading there are two spotlights with three light bulbs each, and light is also coming in from at least two windows.

Book Spread pp. 8–9 in Skuggsidan

Maj: But look what did they do? (Points at the wings in the image of the shadow on page 8).

Teacher: Yes, that’s what I thought about when I read this book before. Then I thought: That, does it work?

Maj: Nooo.

Teacher: We’ll have to read. Under a branch sits a cat. The cat jumps up into the tree and sneaks closer and closer to the bird. Ragnar flaps his arms to scare the cat away and then Ragnar's shadow looks like an angel. (looks at the children) That one was tricky, I think.

Albin and Maj: (stand up and flap their arms)

Albin: Now I know. (flaps his arms and points in the book) It flaps so it gets … It flaps so fast, so it turns into a lot of arms.

Teacher: Can the shadow manage to stay that way then? So it can manage to look like a lot of arms?

Maj and Ruben: (flap their arms and laugh)

Ruben: Like this! (flaps his arms very quickly).

Teacher: Yes, we’ll have to try it later. I'm not really sure it’ll work.

Albin: Now I see a lot of arms (watches Maj’s and Ruben’s shadows as they flap their arms)

Teacher: Did you see any shadow (turns to Albin)? Maj, do that again, then we’ll see if we can see any shadow.

Albin: I see a shadow but I see … 

Teacher: Yeah, actually behind Ruben there. Yes, it actually looks like it’s fluttering. I saw the shadow over there (points above the backrest behind Ruben) because the sun was shining through the window. Ha! It worked! I wasn't sure it would work. But he must’ve tested it, the man who made the book. The branches become a forest ...

Albin: (stands on the floor in front of the sofa with his back to the window and flaps his arms).

Teacher: Was there any shadow?

Albin: Yes, there!

Ruben: (stands on the floor to look at Albin's shadow)

Albin: I saw it [the shadow]! (sits down on the sofa again)

Teacher: You saw it [the shadow].

Ruben: (stands where Albin previously stood and starts flapping his arms)

Teacher: Yes, there are wings.

Ruben: (sits on the sofa again) Yeah, did it make a shadow of me?

Teacher: Yes, a shadow with wings, yes.

[…]

Maj asks what Ragnar (the boy in the book) does in relation to how the shadow looks. Thus, the understanding that shadow images arise and are controlled by the person or object casting the shadow is challenged, which creates interest in examining how the shadow has come about. Their investigations show some similarities between how their own shadow looks when they flap their arms and how the picture book's ‘angel wing shadow’ looks. The starting point for the investigations is the children's way of experiencing whether it is the person or object casting the shadow, or the action, that determines the shape of the shadow. The conclusion of their investigations is that if you flap your arms quickly enough it may create a shadow that looks like a shadow with wings. The focus is on experiencing shadow that is influenced by someone or something, which is upheld as the teacher emphasises that the book's shadows must have been tested by its author/illustrator. Crucial to Albin and Ruben’s experiencing shadow as being influenced by someone or something is the discernment of similarities, as the shadows they themselves make seem to resemble the shadow in the book.

Excerpt 3 is a subsequent part of the conversation in Excerpt 2. Differences between Ragnar's appearance and the drawn details of Ragnar's shadow are noticed, and challenge the children's way of experiencing shadow being influenced by someone or something. Albin's way of experiencing that shadow images emerge due to, and are controlled by, the one who ‘does’ the shadow (see Excerpt 2) does not seem to be sufficient here for explaining the drawn details in the shadow.

Excerpt 3

The children have examined that it is possible to make wings in their own shadow like in the book, but the picture still seems to be difficult to understand as Albin notes that there are feathers in the shadow.

Book Spread pp. 8–9 in Skuggsidan

[…]

Albin: (points to the book's shadow wings, looks worried.) Yes, but these feathers are so weird … Yes, maybe the arms are the feathers, but they’re not far … Well, there are three outside … 

Teacher: Mmmm … 

Albin: … and then there are some in there. That's what’s … 

Teacher: Mmmm … Just as if he’s colored with the pen in there. They might’ve drawn it that way so that we’d really see that it’s wings. He might have thought he needed to draw a little extra. Hmmm … The branches become a forest. A deep forest of shadows. What’s there among the dark trees? Lots and lots of shadows, anyway. (turns the page in the book).

When Albin's way of experiencing shadow cannot explain the feathers in the shadow, the teacher suggests that the author/illustrator may have drawn feathers to show the reader the wings and then continues to read. Albin says nothing more about the drawn feathers. Thus, he does not express discerning aspects of shadow as an artistic expression. This means that, even though the teacher tried to point out the author's intentions, shadow is still regarded being influenced by Ragnar in the book. One dimension of variation that never opens in this conversation, although attempts are made, is that the book’s author and illustrator use an artistic expression whereby shadows can be experienced in other ways.

The challenge involved with the children's way of experiencing shadow is related to Albin's attention to differences. He notes that the feathers in the picture book's shadow were not reproduced in the children's own attempts to recreate the ‘angel wing shadow’ from the picture book. But Albin and the other children neither say nor do anything more in the situation that is analysable as a new way of experiencing shadow. Although differences are noticed, which could open up new ways of experiencing shadow, the children continue to experience shadow being influenced by someone or something.

Shadow experienced as self-acting with fictional abilities

When the children and teacher talk about the book Skuggsidan, the children give some expression to experiencing shadow as self-acting with fictional abilities. In previous conversations, the self-acting fictional abilities of shadow were not contrasted to the children's way of experiencing that ordinary shadows do not have such abilities. Such contrasting is done in Excerpt 4, however, in which comparisons are made between a way of experiencing shadow as self-acting with fictional abilities in a dream or a fictional world and a lack of such abilities in ordinary shadows. The fictional ability of self-acting shadows is expressed as being discerned by Ruben, when comparisons are made between the fictional shadow's ability to run quickly and how fast the fictional figure The Flash¹ is running.

Excerpt 4

When the teacher reads the book Skuggsidan, the conversation slips into dreams. The children explain that the whole story was a dream that the boy, Ragnar, had had in the book. Ruben then tells about a dream he has had about superheroes.

‘The Flash’ can outrun his shadow

[…]

Ruben: But once when I was littler than I was now, then, then, when behind me it looked behind me, then it looked like a lot of superheroes were coming up behind me.

Teacher: Was it shadows? Or was it just? Or what was it then?

Ruben: A dream.

Teacher: It was a dream. Do you think superheroes make shadows? Or are they so very fast (illustrates the speed with her hand) that the shadows can’t keep up?

Ruben: The Flash is so very fast that the shadow can't keep up.

Teacher: Not even the shadow can keep up – although the rabbit [in Den svarta kaninen] ran superfast and the shadow could keep up then. Hmmm … (turns to Albin). But you also had thoughts that there must be someone who has control over the shadow. It does exactly like you do, so if you’re still, the shadow’s still. Though, well … 

[…]

When Ruben tells of his dream about superheroes, the teacher steers the conversation back to the subject of shadows. She contrasts the ability of fictional superheroes to outrun their shadow with the children's implicit experience of ordinary shadows following the person who has the shadow. Ruben discerns fictitious abilities as a varying aspect, and confirms that the fictional superhero The Flash is so fast that his shadow cannot keep up with him. Here, shadow is experienced as self-acting with fictional (in)abilities to keep up with fictional superheroes’ speed. Ruben associates with previous experiences of fictional characters with fictional shadows, rather than the fictional characters and fictional shadows from the picturebooks. Crucial to Ruben’s experiencing shadow as self-acting with fictional abilities is the discernment of differences between shadows in an ordinary and a fictional context. Children experience shadow as self-acting with fictional abilities by discerning differences.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to contribute knowledge about ways of experiencing shadow, foregrounded in children’s conversations about picturebooks. The variation theoretical analysis shows four ways of experiencing shadow that emerged in the conversations about the books, exemplified through empirical examples in the Results section. The analysis shows that some ways of experiencing shadow are more prominent than others, and that there are differences between ways of experiencing shadow in the conversations about each picture book (Table 1). In the reading activities, the children often express ways of experiencing shadow related to what they have experience of. For example, shadow is often experienced as visible with light, and being influenced by someone or something. Both these ways of experiencing shadow are associated with how it can be experienced in everyday situations in children’s lives.

Although the depictions in the picturebooks Skuggsidan and Skuggbarnen often involve shadow as phenomena included in human sciences such as within folklore, art, and fiction, it is not these ways of experiencing shadow that are prominent in the children's conversations about shadow based on these picturebooks. These results are in line with Sipe's (2008) results, which showed that children mostly talk about what they can perceive directly from books or what they have previous experience of, while they rarely express themselves entering the fictional world. According to Vygotsky's ([1930] 2004) description of imagination as an ability to envision something, children need a great deal of experiences in order to be able to understand something in accordance with someone else's (such as an author or illustrator) fictional representation. It is a child's previous experience of shadow that forms the basis of their ability to imagine different ways of understanding it. Still, there is one example in the study of how shadow experienced as self-acting with fictional abilities is contrasted with everyday experiences of shadow being influenced by someone or something (Excerpt 4). However, this example does not emanate from the fictional world of the picture book but rather from Ruben's previous experience that The Flash, who is a fictional superhero, has an ability to outrun his own shadow. Ruben's way of experiencing shadow as self-acting with fictional abilities, supported by experiences involving The Flash and his shadow, is in line with Vygotsky’s description that it is children's experiences that form the basis for their ability to imagine (envision) something. The variation theoretical perspective on learning used in this study also emphasises the idea that children's ways of experiencing are based on their previous experiences, but also the opportunities they are offered to discern something new (Marton 2015).

Several times during the reading activities, the children’s attention is drawn to various aspects of shadow that could generate new knowledge about shadow either as a scientific phenomenon or as various phenomena included in human sciences, such as within folklore, art, and fiction. Following the children's initiative in conversations and actions could open up the possibility to see shadow as a multifaceted phenomenon. There are several examples from the reading activities that show that the children spontaneously conduct investigations to understand the picturebooks’ shadows (Excerpt 2), trying to determine whether it is possible to recreate the shadow they see in the picture. In order for the children to experience that the author and illustrator make use of an artistic expression in creating a book's shadows, the drawn shadow could be contrasted to a shadow that is a light phenomenon. In this way, differences between shadows that are artistic expressions and those that the children experience in their everyday life can become visible to them and thereby broaden their way of experiencing shadow. But since the children's way of experiencing shadow is rarely contrasted to other ways of experiencing shadow, they are not made aware that shadow is a multifaceted phenomenon in the picturebooks. This explains why aspects of shadow as an artistic expression do not open up at all, and why aspects of shadow as a fictional phenomenon remain in the background, even though all four picturebooks contain artistic expressions and fictitious phenomena.

The results thus show that the children face difficulties when trying to interpret the picturebooks’ depictions of shadow (Excerpts 2 and 3). This result is in line with descriptions by children's literature researchers (Arizpe and Styles 2016; Asplund Carlsson 2003; Nikolajeva 2014) that modern picturebooks require a sophisticated reading, which can be a challenge for both children and adults. This difficulty in interpreting shadows in the picturebooks can be related to the fact that these books were not written or illustrated based on children’s perspectives on shadow. It thus becomes relevant to discuss whether children's ways of experiencing content in a picturebook, such as shadow, would differ depending on whether adults (authors, illustrators, teachers, etc.) used child perspectives or listened to children's perspectives in order to meet and broaden the children's way of experiencing.

Limitations and reflections

This small-scale study uses an explorative approach with the objective to serve as a starting point for further contemplations and studies about children's perspectives on picturebook content. This study's thorough analysis of children's statements about a phenomenon in picturebooks can contribute to a discussion of what researchers, teachers, authors and illustrators can learn from approaching children's own experiences, perceptions and understanding of phenomena in picturebooks.

The reason why this preschool was selected for the study is based on the fact that the participating teacher had been part of a previous developmental project about using picturebooks for different purposes and that the teacher had carried out a teaching project on light and shadow with the children. Thus, the prerequisites for reading activities about children's ways of experiencing shadow in picturebooks were considered to be advantageous at this preschool. Despite this, the results indicate challenges of expanding children's ways of experiencing shadow based on the picturebooks in this study. This raises the question whether the results would have been different if other teaching strategies had been used in the reading activities. The teacher in this study was asked to carry out the reading activities in the way she usually does. If the teacher had been given an explicit instruction to use what children say and do as a starting point to broaden their way of experiencing shadow from the picturebooks, the results might have been different. Against this background, further studies could be conducted in which teachers learn teaching strategies that can broaden children's perspectives on phenomena in picturebooks.

Regarding children's consent to participate in the study, the children were informed that their participation was voluntary. In addition, throughout the study, the researcher and the teacher had a responsiveness to expressions that could show children's unwillingness to participate. However, all children who were asked about participation expressed that they wanted to be part of the study's video-recorded reading activities.

Finally, it is emphasised why studies analysing children's own statements about content in picturebooks are needed in children's literature research. The basic idea is that picturebooks are read and interpreted by children. If children's own perspectives on content in picturebooks, such as shadow, are not highlighted in the authoring and illustrating of picturebooks, and sometimes not even by teachers, the possibilities for picturebooks to serve as a resource for widening children's perspectives on the world are limited. This study indicates that children's literature studies based on children's perspectives could provide a basis for discussion about how children are given opportunities to make sense of content in picturebooks, and how openings can be created for children to understand multifaceted phenomena in picturebooks. In order to discuss such questions, we need further studies focusing on children’s ways of experiencing phenomena when reading and listening to complex and ambiguous picturebooks.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 According to DC Comics website, The Flash is a superhero with a special ability to run and move extremely quickly, as quickly as the speed of light.