Quality picturebooks and their role in Finnish Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This thesis seeks to define what a “quality picturebook” is in the context of Finnish Early Childhood Education, and identify how quality picturebooks can support activities and goals based in the Finnish National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education. In order to find a definition for “quality picturebooks,” three nominees for the Arvid Lydecken award, which are nationally acknowledged quality picturebooks: Gorilla (2020) by Miikka Pörsti and Anne Vasko, Kaupunki Kukaties (2021) by Pia Krutsin, and Suomen Ämminkäiset Värikuvina: Otusbongaajan Opas (2021) by Tuomas Kärkkäinen, will be examined by using criteria proposed by Bland (2016), Mallet (2020), and the Finnish National Curriculum. Each book was found to apply to specific topics: socioemotional development, language, and environmental education. Literature relating to the topics and the use of picturebooks in ECE is reviewed and then contextualized within the Finnish National Curriculum. The overall findings of the literature review are that the National Curriculum is flexible enough to accommodate picturebooks of varying topics and genres, and that the approximate definition of quality picturebooks are that they have accessible language and content, are engaging and relatable to children, encourage new perspectives, and lend themselves organically to additional activities and discussions.