A picture book is a book in which text, illustrations and design are equally intertwined. For a picture book to be of quality, it has to comply with certain criteria. As a product, picture books are a part of a literary system. Another part of the system consists of the manufacturer, recipient, repertoire, institution and market. Children are our indirect recipients, as they are also influenced by their preschool teachers and parents. These are intermediaries between children and books. The intermediary between an author and an illustrator of the book, i.e. the manufacturer, is the editor. All of these are important and have a say in what the book children receive in the end will look like.
This master's thesis focuses on the selection of a quality picture book for children through six groups: authors, illustrators, editors, preschool teachers, parents and children. In the theoretical part, I defined the picture book and performed an overview of the development of the picture book in Slovenia. Based on a catalogue by the Slovenian Book Agency, Bee Curious (2023), I presented 12 authors and selected quality picture books. An overview of book rentals in COBISS in terms of selected authors and picture books in the years 2022 and 2023 was performed.
I presented the received literary awards (Večernica, Kristina Brenkova Award, Desetnica, Levstik Award and Golden Pear Label) and reviewed recent regulations on websites stating criteria for the selection of quality books. The criteria were also based on literature by different authors (Jamnik, 2003; Zupančič, 2012; Haramija and Batič, 2013; Weih, 2015; Haramija, 2017; Magalová et al., 2023). Furthermore, I studied the importance of reading for children and associated the entire topic with the Kindergarten Curriculum (1999) and its manual, Children In Preschool (2001).
In the empirical part, I carried out a qualitative study to determine the factors that influence groups of individuals (authors, illustrators, editors, preschool teachers, parents and children) when selecting a quality picture book. I wanted to determine what criteria they consider when selecting picture books. The conclusions from my research show that all respondents attribute great importance to reading. Not the criteria themselves, but keeping up to date with the literary production in the market is what is important. The study demonstrates differences in the selection of picture books between adults and children. The importance of making professional workers in preschools/schools and parents aware of the importance of reading and factors that may facilitate the selection of quality picture books is highlighted.
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