| Abstract: | Abstract Content analysis was used to determine the environmental content in a selection of national award-winning children's literature from 1960 to 1982. All but six of the seventy-two books analyzed had some type of environmental content, but with the exception of one book, the messages did not constitute themes. Many books used both social and environmental issues as backdrops to the main action of the story. Environmental messages related to human physical and emotional needs occurred more frequently those those related to animals and plants. Environmental messages occurred most frequently in stories set in rural, non-farm settings. It appears that this selection of children's fiction literature was influenced by the environmental awareness generated by Earth Day 1970, in that somewhat more environmental content was found after 1970. |
