Research
How Picture-Print Books Benefit the Social-Emotional Development of Children
Exploring the impact of children's books is a crucial part of understanding child development. Picture-print books play a critical part in the education of our youth and reveal a way to support children’s emotional growth by encouraging them to relate their feelings to text and illustration. Children's books can help guide behavior and help kids adapt social skills and problem-solving strategies when faced with tough situations. The characters in stories can present good examples for children to relate to and emulate. According to respected early childhood education author Carol Copple and early education specialist Sue Bredekam, making text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections can help children understand the story and use it to reflect on their own lives and problems. Children's literature is a valuable tool to support children's moral development because it encourages creating parallels between their own lives and the stories depicted. The National Library of Medicine states that a child's understanding of emotions and ability to keep control of them is crucial for developing the social competence needed to interact well with others. In order to help children develop empathy, parents can read and discuss stories with their kids throughout their entire childhood. Children's books play a crucial role in supporting the social-emotional development of kids by encouraging positive behaviors, supporting moral development, and fostering empathy.
Personal Stake in Research
Exploring the impact of children's books is a crucial part of understanding child development. Picture-print books play a critical part in the education of our youth and reveal a way to support children’s emotional growth by encouraging them to relate their feelings to text and illustration.
Children's books can help guide behavior and help kids adapt social skills and problem-solving strategies when faced with tough situations. The characters in stories can present good examples for children to relate to and emulate. According to respected early childhood education author Carol Copple and early education specialist Sue Bredekam, making text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections can help children understand the story and use it to reflect on their own lives and problems.
Literature is a valuable tool to support children's moral development because it encourages creating parallels between their own lives and the stories depicted. The National Library of Medicine states that a child's understanding of emotions and ability to keep control of them is crucial for developing the social competence needed to interact well with others. In order to help children develop empathy, parents can read and discuss stories with their kids throughout their entire childhood.
Books play a crucial role in supporting the social-emotional development of children by encouraging positive behaviors, supporting moral development, and fostering empathy.
What is Social Emotional Health?
Before diving into the research behind what it entails, one first needs to understand what social-emotional health means. Social-emotional health is the ability to comprehend and manage our emotions. Additionally, it is the skill that allows us to have relationships and social connections with others. In the social-emotional realm, humans progress through positive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Our ability to recognize others' emotions and adapt to others' state of mind is another key factor of social well-being. Social-emotional health utilizes self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, and resilience. According to a study done by Christina Cipriano, PhD, an assistant professor at the Yale Child Study Center, and Michael Strambler, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry, K-12 students who participate in social-emotional learning programs develop a better work ethic in school and have a better social life. The students who participated in the study displayed better work in their academics and other school-related categories such as attendance and engagement in classes. Cipriano stated that “[Their] new findings provide robust evidence and a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of SEL (social-emotional learning): positive effects that matter for student success in the short and long term, across the K-12 academic lifespan,” after completing the study. The positive effects that stem from these SEL programs last at least 6 months after the course is finished. Supporting social-emotional well-being is a critical part of guiding children's cognitive development and gives them a better chance to reach their full potential throughout all aspects of their lives.
Behavioral Development
Children's books help to foster positive behavioral development by guiding social skills, emotional regulation, and problem-solving strategies. According to Paul Crawford, an award-winning author and founder of the field of health humanities, and Professor Sherron Roberts, children's literature is full of valuable examples of characters facing moral and behavioral dilemmas. These characters can help kids relate to the story and navigate their own day-to-day challenges.
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For example, when I interviewed kindergarten teacher Asia Colvin, she shared a specific instance where one of her students was upset because her peers had been touching her hair without her consent. To combat this problem, Colvin read to the class "Don't Touch My Hair!" by Sharee Miller, and the problem subsided after the children looked at the situation from an outside and easily digestible perspective. The kids then understood how to respect others' boundaries without feeling personally scrutinized. Colvin could determine they understood because the class stopped touching the young girl's hair.
Adults, including teachers, help model relating parts of a story to their own life by making text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections while reading a story. According to a study done by researchers on low-income urban families in New York with children 5 years old and under, when guardians read aloud and play with their children, they are helping them learn to control their behavior. The study showed that the Video Interaction Project improved behavioral, attention, and aggression problems. The Video Interaction Project was created by an organization called PlayReadV.I.P., a highly regarded parent education program under the authority of Dr. Alan Mendelsohn and colleagues from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYC Health + Hospitals in Bellevue. The program videotapes families playing and reading aloud to their children, allowing the parents to watch the footage and understand their children's responses and mental processes in a way they have never had before. Throughout this process, families learn about "developmentally appropriate learning materials" and activities to do at home which parents discuss with their coach. The researchers observed that reading aloud and playing with children have positive impacts on their behavioral development and lasting effects on the child's behavior. Mendelsohn states, "The key take-home message to me is that when parents read and play with their children when their children are very young"... "it has huge impacts on their children's behavior." In fact, according to an article written by Kristen Kohm, Robyn Holmes, Lynn Romeo, and Louis Koolidge, kids can explore children's books together to help their social, cognitive, and emotional development.
Children's books provide lessons parents can teach their kids in an engaging and understandable format. For example, Colvin uses the book "Sometimes I Feel Silly" by Jamie Lee to teach her class about different emotions. The book explores multiple emotions, such as anger, frustration, wacky, wildness, and happiness. Colvin refers back to this book often because it connects with children and educates them about their feelings and emotions in simple terms. This piece of children's literature shows kids that embracing all the feelings that make us who we are is essential.
Research proves that most of the problematic behaviors that children develop establish themselves in early childhood years. This being said, children's books can help guide behavior and emotions before children learn to express themselves in a problematic way.
Fostering Empathy
Children's books help kids develop empathy by allowing them to look at situations in a format they have never considered before. According to a study by an art therapy group at Lesley University, reading and having conversations about books lead children to understand empathy better. The study followed one therapist and three children, 8, 9, and 10. Two of these children were diagnosed with autism, and one displayed features of autism but did not have a diagnosis. The kids listened to a story, discussed its content, and completed a related art project. After listening to a story, the therapist asked the children the name of the emotion that reflected the story's tone best, which helped to encourage discussion. The findings showed that reading and discussing literature with each other helped the children comprehend their own and others' emotions better than before.