Abstract
Picturebook research is a growing field of scholarly enquiry with studies being
conducted in various disciplines. The aim of this study was to explore children’s
engagement with a contemporary picturebook for pedagogical purposes. This study
focused on a group of 11 South African learners in Grade 3 and their engagement with
a contemporary picturebook. This study aimed to describe the types of engagements
that the learners had with the picturebook, The Extraordinary Gardener by Sam
Boughton (2018).
This study took the form of a qualitative case study exploring the children’s
engagement with the picturebook in the presence of a researcher. Data was generated
through interviews, artefacts and observations. The learners engaged with the
picturebook during two paired reading activities where they read the story and
answered questions. The learners were paired according to their reading abilities
where a stronger reader was paired with a weaker reader. The learners then engaged
in a read-aloud and group discussion, followed by a painted response. The final data
was gathered through individual interviews where learners reflected on their paintings
and the process of engaging with the picturebook. I analysed the data using an
inductive data analysis process arriving at the three main findings of the research.
A discussion of the three main findings follows the discussion of the processes
undertaken to analyse the data. Firstly, the data revealed that the initially superficial
verbal engagement was complemented by nuanced, inferential and creative
responses upon further readings. It was also found that the facilitation of the
researcher along with learners’ interactions with their peers added clarity and depth to
their engagement. Lastly, analysis of the data showed that the learners’ basic
descriptions of what was visible was later complemented by a more nuanced
appreciation of the aesthetic features of the picturebook.
The findings suggest ways that picturebooks can be used to promote reading
comprehension in classrooms, especially those in South Africa. A discussion on the
recommendations for teacher-education programmes in South Africa, as well as a
discussion on recommendations for the children’s literature industry concludes this
study. What the findings suggest is that teachers should be taught about the unique
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genre of picturebooks, as well as how to effectively engage learners with
contemporary picturebooks, and how to encourage learners to become sophisticated
readers of the genre. I then bring Sipe’s (2000) framework of literary understanding
into focus by analysing the data in relation to the framework. In this way, this study
contributes to the growing literature on picturebooks in South Africa.