Home is outdoors: A study of award-winning Norwegian picturebooks

Abstract

Based on an investigation of 34 award-winning Norwegian picturebooks spanning the years from 1948 to 2010, I found that a substantial number portray outdoor spaces in nature as the most prevalent domestic space. My aim is to explore the depicted child’s relation to nature and discuss whether the child seeks to master nature, and how the idea of ‘mastering nature’ may be perceived. From the corpus, ten books have been selected for this exploration. The article is structured in three parts. First, I outline the comparative framework and the main findings of my inquiry into the whole corpus. Second, I sketch a theoretical background for the following analyses. This background is supported by studies on the importance of nature in Norwegian children’s literature and on the competent Nordic child. Finally, I present my analyses of the selected picturebooks with an emphasis on possible differences between boy and girl characters.