Children's picture books are one means through which children learn and develop attitudes towards grandparents.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics used by authors and illustrators to describe grandparent characters. A total of 71 children's picture books published in Japan since 1980 were selected and the contents analyzed. The physical traits used to describe grandparents, the settings in which grandparents are portrayed, the activities that grandparents engage in within their families, and the relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren were examined. The following findings were made.
(1) In general, grandparents in children's picture books are dominated by the stereotype of being old.
It is clear that the images of grandparents in picture books do not represent the multiple realities of the grandparents of the readers of these books. Their grandparents are often still in the mainstream of life. A very large number of books use grandparents as a vehicle to explain to youngsters some state of dependency or poor health. Grandmothers are more likely to be involved in cooking and caring for grandchildren, whereas grandfathers are more likely to be involved in teaching activities and storytelling.
(2) In Japanese picture books, grandparents are often depicted as not being able to live alone and as being dependent on their children for survival. Consequently, grandparents in these books are overwhelmingly portrayed as not being independent.
This stereotyping of grandparents is a form of “ageism.” Authors and illustrators need to present a variety of books depicting a diversity of grandparents. Parents and educators need to give actual experiences with a variety of grandparents in order to challenge stereotypic thinking.
