Indirect experiences are important in the public perception of nature and may influence attitudes towards conservation. Biodiversity and the environment are frequently presented in children’s books and promote children’s attitudes and emotions about biodiversity. We examined how biodiversity was portrayed in 164 books directed at six- to eight-year-old children. Living beings and habitats were found in 98% and 80% of the books, respectively, and included 441 different organisms in a total of 21,786 occurrences. The living beings in the books weren’t representative of the global biodiversity and were dominated by few iconic nonhuman organisms, mostly mammals, especially companion animals or other domesticated animals. The representations were strongly biased towards anthropomorphization of nonhuman animals who inhabited limited common habitats. This may contribute to the idea that all biodiversity lives in forests and humanized habitats, and is limited to nonhuman animals under human mastery or to few inaccessible megafauna.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
Ballouard J.-M. , Ajtic R. , Balint H. , Brito J. C. , Crnobrnja-Isailovic J. , Desmonts D. & Prokop P. , 'Schoolchildren and one of the most unpopular animals: Are they ready to protect snakes? ' (2013 ) 26 (1 ) Anthrozoos : 93 -109 .
Ballouard J.-M. , Brischoux F. & Bonnet X. , 'Children prioritize virtual exotic biodiversity over local biodiversity ' (2011 ) 6 (8 ) PLos ONE : e2315 .
Batt S. , 'Human attitudes towards animals in relation to species similarity to humans: A multivariate approach ' (2009 ) 2 (2 ) Bioscience Horizons : 180 -190 .
Bettelheim B. , The uses of enchantment the meaning and importance of fairy tales , (Thames & Hudson , London, UK 1976 ).
Ceriaco L. M. P. , 'Human attitudes towards herpetofauna: The influence of folklore and negative values on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Portugal ' (2012 ) 8 (8 ) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine .
Clarke K. R. & Gorley R. N. , PRIMER v6: User manual/tutorial , (PRIMER-E , Plymouth, UK 2006 ).
Clarke K. R. , Gorley R. N. , Somerfield P. J. & Warwick R. M. , Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation , (PRIMER-E , Plymouth, UK 2014 ).
Costa A. F. d. , Pegado E. , Ávila P. & Coelho A. R. , 'Avaliação do Plano Nacional de Leitura: os primeiros cinco anos ', in Avaliação Externa do Plano Nacional de Leitura , (CIES—Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia e ISCTE—Instituto Universitário de Lisboa , 2011 ).
Fischer A. & Young J. C. , 'Understanding mental constructs of biodiversity: Implications for biodiversity management and conservation ' (2007 ) 136 Biological Conservation : 271 -282 .
Fischer A. , Bednar-Friedl B. , Langers F. , Dobrovodská M. , Geamana N. , Skogen K. & Dumortier M. , 'Universal criteria for species conservation priorities? Findings from a survey of public views across Europe ' (2011 ) 144 Biological Conservation : 998 -1007 .
Fischer A. , Langers F. , Bednar-Friedl B. , Geamana N. & Skogen K. , 'Mental representations of animal and plant species in their social contexts: Results from a survey across Europe ' (2011 ) 31 Journal of Environmental Psychology : 118 -128 .
Ford D. J. , 'Representations of science within children’s trade books ' (2006 ) 43 (2 ) Journal of Research in Science Teaching : 214 -235 .
Ganea P. A. , DeLoache J. S. & Ma L. , 'Young children’s learning and transfer of biological information from picture books to real animals ' (2011 ) 82 (5 ) Child Development : 1421 -1433 .
Gonen M. & Guler T. , 'The environment and its place in children’s picture story books ' (2011 ) 15 Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences : 3633 -3639 .
Hug J. W. , 'Exploring instructional strategies to develop prospective elementary teacher’s children’s literature book evaluation skills for science, ecology and environmental education ' (2010 ) 16 (3-4 ) Environmental Education Research : 267 -382 .
Johnson K. R. , 'The ambiguous terrain of petkeeping in children’s realistic animal stories ' (1996 ) 4 (1 ) Society & Animals : 1 -17 .
Kassas M. , 'Environmental education: Biodiversity ' (2002 ) 22 The Environmentalist : 345 -351 .
Kellert S. R. , 'Attitudes toward animals: Age-related development among children ' (1985 ) 16 The Journal of Environmental Education : 29 -39 .
Kellert S. R. , 'Values and perceptions of invertebrates ' (1993 ) 7 (4 ) Conservation Biology : 845 -855 .
Kellert S. R. , The value of life: Biological diversity and human society , (Island Press , Washington, DC 1996 ).
Kellert S. R. , 'Experiencing nature: Affective, cognitive, and evaluative development in children ', in P. H. Kahn & S. R. Kellert (eds), Children and nature: Psychological, sociological, and evolutionary investigations , (The MIT Press , Cambridge: MA 2002 ) 117 -151 .
Knight A. J. , '‘‘Bats, snakes and spiders, Oh my!’’ How aesthetic and negativistic attitudes, and other concepts predict support for species protection ' (2008 ) 28 Journal of Environmental Psychology : 94 -103 .
Lindemann-Mathies P. , '“Loveable” mammals and “lifeless” plants: How children’s interest in common local organisms can be enhanced through observation of nature ' (2005 ) 27 (6 ) International Journal of Science Education : 655 -677 .
Miller J. R. , 'Biodiversity conservation and the extintion of experience ' (2005 ) 20 (8 ) Trends in Ecology and Evolution : 430 -434 .
More T. A. , An analysis of wildlife in children’s stories. , (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station , Upper Darby, PA 1977 ) 89 -92 Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-30 .
More T. A. , 'Wildlife preferences and children’s books ' (1979 ) 7 (4 ) Wildlife Society Bulletin : 274 -278 .
Prokop P. , Özel M. & Uşak M. , 'Cross-cultural comparison of student attitudes toward snakes ' (2009 ) 17 Society & Animals : 224 -240 .
Prokop P. , Usak M. & Erdogan M. , 'Good predators in bad stories: Cross-cultural comparison of children’s attitudes towards wolves ' (2011 ) 10 (4 ) Journal of Baltic Science Education : 229 -242 .
Randler C. , Ilg A. & Kern J. , 'Cognitive and emotional evaluation of amphibian conservation program for elementary school students ' (2005 ) 37 (1 ) The Journal of Environmental Education : 43 -52 .
Rice D. C. , 'Using trade books in teaching elementary science: Facts and fallacies ' (2002 ) 55 (6 ) The Reading Teacher : 552 -565 .
Serpell J. , 'Animals in children’s lives [Guest Editor’s Introduction] ' (1999 ) 7 (2 ) Society & Animals : 87 -94 .
Serpell J. , 'Factors influencing human attitudes to animals and their welfare ' (2004 ) 13 Animal Welfare : S145 -151 .
Snaddon J. L. , Tunner E. C. & Foster W. A. , 'Children’s perceptions of rainforest biodiversity: Which animals have the lion’s share of environmental awareness? ' (2008 ) 3 (7 ) PLoS ONE : e2579 .
Stewart K. & Cole M. , 'The conceptual separation of food and animals in childhood ' (2009 ) 12 (4 ) Food,Culture & Society : 458 -476 .
Stokes D. L. , 'Things we like: Human preferences among similar organisms and implications for conservation ' (2006 ) 35 Human Ecology : 361 -369 .
Tomazic I. , 'The influence of direct experience on students’ attitudes to, and knowledge about amphibians ' (2008 ) 51 (1 ) Acta Biologica Slovenica : 39 -49 .
Tomazic I. , 'Pre-service biology teachers’ and primary school students’ attitudes toward and knowledge about snakes ' (2011 ) 7 (3 ) Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education : 161 -171 .
Tomazic I. , 'Reported experiences enhance favourable attitudes toward toads ' (2011 ) 7 (4 ) Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Tecnhnology Education : 253 -262 .
Wagler R. & Wagler A. , 'External insect morphology: A negative factor in attitudes toward insects and likelihood of incorporation in future science education settings ' (2012 ) 7 (2 ) International Journal of Environmental & Science Education : 313 -325 .
Wandersee J. H. , 'Plants or animals—which do junior high school students prefer to study? ' (1986 ) 23 Journal of Research in Science Teaching : 415 -426 .
Waylen K. A. , Fischer A. , McGowan P. J. K. , Thirgood S. J. & Milner-Gulland J. , 'Effect of local cultural context on the success of community-based conservation interventions ' (2010 ) 24 (4 ) Conservation Biology : 1119 -1129 .
Weelie D. V. & Wals A. , 'Making biodiversity meaningful through environmental education ' (2002 ) 24 (11 ) International Journal of Science Education : 1143 -1156 .
Wells R. & Zeece P. C. , 'My place in my world: Literature for place-based environmental education ' (2007 ) 35 (3 ) Early Childhood Education Journal : 285 -291 .
Williams J. , Podesschi C. , Palmer N. , Schwadel P. & Meyler D. , 'The human-environment dialog in award-winning children’s picture books ' (2012 ) 82 (1 ) Sociological Inquiry : 145 -159 .
Woods B. , 'Beauty and the beast: Preferences for animals in Australia ' (2000 ) 11 (2 ) The Journal of Tourism Studies : 25 -35 .
Zar J. H. , Biostatistical analysis , (Prentice Hall International Editions , Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1984 ).
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1150 | 194 | 8 |
Full Text Views | 317 | 14 | 3 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 142 | 35 | 6 |
Indirect experiences are important in the public perception of nature and may influence attitudes towards conservation. Biodiversity and the environment are frequently presented in children’s books and promote children’s attitudes and emotions about biodiversity. We examined how biodiversity was portrayed in 164 books directed at six- to eight-year-old children. Living beings and habitats were found in 98% and 80% of the books, respectively, and included 441 different organisms in a total of 21,786 occurrences. The living beings in the books weren’t representative of the global biodiversity and were dominated by few iconic nonhuman organisms, mostly mammals, especially companion animals or other domesticated animals. The representations were strongly biased towards anthropomorphization of nonhuman animals who inhabited limited common habitats. This may contribute to the idea that all biodiversity lives in forests and humanized habitats, and is limited to nonhuman animals under human mastery or to few inaccessible megafauna.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1150 | 194 | 8 |
Full Text Views | 317 | 14 | 3 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 142 | 35 | 6 |