Children interpretating past through historical picture books

Authors

• Arja Virta Turun yliopisto

Abstract

This article examines how 8–13 -year-old children interpreted images of a picture-book that illustrates Finnish life in the past. More specifically, the article discusses how they judged and explained the veracity of the pictures. Furthermore, the study discusses some characteristics of children’s historical thinking. The data were collected in focus groups discussions on the basis of Mauri Kunnas’ Koiramäki books. Pupils typically thought that the illustrations were truthful, or pictured the past reality, but most of them had difficulties in explaining why they found the descriptions real.