PICTURE BOOKS AND IMMIGRATION CHALLENGES: AN INTERROGATION OF LITERARY CONTENT BASED ON A CASE STUDY OF THREE ADULT IMMIGRANTS RECALLING CHILDHOOD TRANSITIONS TO CANADA

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to theoretically conceptualize the ways that a set of contemporary Canadian picture books might assist young immigrants who are learning Canadian culture as well as language. Three adult participants who arrived in Canada between ages nine and eleven were asked to reflect on this earlier transition time through semi-structured interviews that teased out challenges experienced as newcomers. Previous research has conceived picture books as important tools for immigrants, who are English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, to acquire English proficiency. In this thesis, other roles of picture books will be highlighted and examined, indirectly supporting globalization through recommended resources that might serve other children. The case study research, grounded in social constructivism, incorporates insights from a theoretical framework that involves critical literacy, reader response, and notions of Radical Change, as well as a conceptual framework that connects globalization and picture book resources. To better grasp the ways that picture books can assist young immigrants to integrate into Canadian society socially and culturally, I first investigated patterns and themes in the recollections of challenges that adult participants discussed from their earlier transition time. Utilizing Berg’s practice for content analysis, with some of the categories for exploration emerging from the interview data, I examined whether or not these patterns and themes as well as other pre-determined themes relating to Canadian images and content appear in a set of picture books. This closed set was derived from the Summer 2016 reading list recommended by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). In this way I am offering a model of how particular books might assist young immigrants during a transition to Canada. This research aimed to offer implications that will support picture books utilizers, including children, educators, researchers, and writers, regarding a wide and practical use of picture books for young newcomers to Canada