Examining Diversity in Caldecott Award Medal Books: The Relationship Between Cultural and Symbolic Capital in Children’s Literature

<a href="https://embed.stanford.edu/iframe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpurl.stanford.edu%2Fzj398bj7963" class="su-underline">Show Content</a>

Abstract/Contents

Abstract: In a critical content analysis of 27 Caldecott Medal books from two decades, I examine the ways in which American children’s literature reflects and promotes norms established during socialization and how these representations have changed over time. I analyze the relationship between the cultural and symbolic capital possessed by characters; I implement the terms racial diversity, shallow diversity (i.e., inclusion of nondominant cultural capital), and deep diversity (i.e., inclusion of nondominant cultural capital with prestige or authority) to establish a more nuanced understanding of diversity. I found that racial diversity in Caldecott literature has increased over time, yet not for books recognized as the overall winner of their year. My sample indicates most books displaying shallow diversity also display deep diversity; however, for books without deep diversity, more work is needed by leaders in the field to ensure that children’s literature during this critical period of socialization promotes inclusive norms.

Author	Hanlin, Becca

Subject	Children’s literature
Subject	Cultural capital
Subject	Symbolic capital
Subject	Diversity
Subject	Caldecott Medal awards
Subject	Stanford Graduate School of Education International Education Policy Analysis
Genre	Text

Related item	Title Stanford Graduate School of Education International Comparative Education
DOI	https://doi.org/10.25740/zj398bj7963
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/zj398bj7963

Use and reproduction: User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred citation: Hanlin, B. (2021). Examining Diversity in Caldecott Award Medal Books: The Relationship Between Cultural and Symbolic Capital in Children’s Literature. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at http://purl.stanford.edu/zj398bj7963

Graduate School of Education International Comparative Education Master's Monographs

Loading usage metrics...