This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by BELAND, R. M. Articles by MILLS, T. L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Positive Portrayal of Grandparents in Current Children's Literature

University of Florida

TERRY L. MILLS

University of Florida

Children's books have the potential to affect cultural norms and attitudes about older adults in many ways. The purpose of this study was to investigate the portrayal of grandparents in children's literature. Sixty-four children's books published since 1985 were randomly selected and content analyzed. In general, there was an overwhelming positive portrayal of grandparents in these books. Positive grandparent characteristics such as independence and happiness were depicted in a majority of the books the authors examined. Other characteristics such as wisdom and understanding were portrayed in slightly less than a majority of the stories. Although some of the stories depicted grandparents with various disabilities, physical impairment did not detract from the positive depiction of the grandparent. Future research might investigate the variance in the portrayal of grandparents along racial/ethnic and gender lines. For example, how are grandparents from various demographic groups portrayed in terms of status, wisdom, functional abilities, or equity?

Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 22, No. 5, 639-651 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/019251301022005006


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?