Examining the motif of the Slovenian cultural heritage in the selected picture books in the pre-school period

The following thesis Examining the Motif of the Slovenian Cultural Heritage in the Selected Picture Books in the Pre-School Period was written in 2018 – in The European Year of Cultural Heritage proposed by the European Parliament. The main subject of this thesis is cultural heritage and fairytales in picture books. The theory presents Slovenian and European cultural heritage and defines the term national identity. Further on, the thesis focuses on projects which raise awareness about the importance of cultural heritage. Later, it deals with the themes of a good-quality picture book. The theory presents the importance of picture books, the development of Slovenian picture books and the criteria which were used to select the relevant picture books in the playroom. The empirical part presents activities that helped the children to get acquainted with cultural heritage. It describes how children learnt about the selected picture books. Cultural heritage motifs from three picture books are presented: A Squash and a Squeeze, Julia Donaldson, 2011; Kekec and Pehta, Josip Vandot (adapted by Andrej Rozman Roza), 2000; and Maček Muri, Kajetan Kovič, 1975. The research has proven that picture books are a good way to present cultural heritage motifs to children in an appropriate way