Image credits, clockwise from top left: Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French, illus. Bruce Whatley (Angus & Robertson 2002); Sunday Chutney by Alan Blabey (Penguin, 2008); A Year on Our Farm by Penny Matthews, illus. Andrew McLean (Scholastic Australia, 2002); Seven More Sleeps by Margaret Wild, illus. Donna Rawlins (Working Title Press 2004); The Very Hungry Bear by Nick Bland (Scholastic 2012); The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky, illus. Andrew Joyner (Viking 2009); Old Tom's Holiday by Leigh Hobbs (ABC Books 2002); and Don't Let a Spoonbill in the Kitchen by Narelle Oliver (Omnibus Books 2013),
The Picture Book Diet is a research project identifying representations of food and food practices in contemporary Australian picture books. What we eat is a topic of robust discussion across the country, yet little attention has been given to the ideas and values concerning food embedded in texts for young children, despite such texts being created with the specific intention not only of entertaining but also of enculturating their audiences, therefore having the potential to influence readers' relationships with food.
This dataset aggregates shortlisted, award-winning and bestselling picture books for 3–8 year-olds published 2000–2013, noting not only food type, but associated depictions of food practices connected with gender, identity and place – such as growing food, shopping, cooking, serving – as well as food-related language use.
This dataset contains 170 shortlisted, award-winning and bestselling picture books published in Australia, 2000–2013, that contain food-related references. These books are in wide circulation and readily available to young children through the public and school library systems. Covering literary awards, publishing industry awards, popularity awards voted by child readers (children's choice awards), and bestseller lists, the survey includes books endorsed by industry professionals, child readers and book-buyers.
The dataset has been compiled with the aim of capturing what young children are likely to be exposed to when they read a recently published picture book, produced by the culture in which they are growing up, at a particular moment in time.
The survey of the dataset notes not only food type, but associated depictions of food practices connected with gender, identity and place – such as food production, shopping, preparation, serving and eating – as well as food-related language use. Food is noisy, speaking to us not only about what we eat, but about how we define ourselves and others, and how we relate to each other and our physical and social environments.
The key findings of the survey include:
The survey was conducted as part of a PhD research project: The Picture Book Diet – Representations of food and food practices in contemporary Australian picture books, completed in 2017.
Dr Laurel Cohn is a developmental book editor who has been working in the publishing industry since the late 1980s. This project is based on research for her PhD dissertation: The Picture Book Diet – Representations of food and food practices in contemporary Australian picture books (2017).
Research assistance by Mehitabel Douglas-Drysdale,Sophi Hohn, Callum McDonald and Acacia Pohlner.
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