Baby Bear or Mrs Bear? Young English Bengali-speaking children’s responses to narrative picture books at school

This article presents findings from a one-year study of
several Bengali-speaking children aged 5–6 years, in
their first year of the English school system. The
investigation centres on exploration of the children’s
responses, principally to the visual text, of a selection
of narrative picture books used in their school. The aim
was to collect children’s responses to characters and
visual features, and to see what narratives the children
made from the picture books. The children, some of
whom were relatively experienced viewers and narrators
of picture-book stories, produced varied responses
to character and décor. The article suggests that the
books formed a bridge between the known and the
culturally unfamiliar, giving the children access to an
understanding of scenes from types of homes other
than their own. The author asserts the need to welcome
children’s versions of stories and their interpretation of
pictures, and to allow them the opportunity to re-read
picture books many times.

Derived from a thesis submitted for the Degree of Master of Philosophy to Middlesex University