How stories shape children's identities
Evelyn Arizpe
Evelyn researches how literature and storytelling shape children’s and adolescents’ identities and understanding of the world. Drawing on Jerome Bruner’s ideas, she sees storytelling as fundamental to the human experience, helping individuals pass on knowledge and form their identities. The visual elements in picture books combined with text create a deeper learning experience. She advises selecting books that are engaging, beautiful and challenging, and creating a supportive environment for discussing books. Evelyn says books need to be critically assessed to ensure they avoid stereotypes and offer diverse and accurate representations.
Listen to Evelyn
“Selecting books is very important… we want to select books that are engaging, that are fun, but also books that are challenging and of course books that are beautiful.”
Evelyn Arizpe
Evelyn Arizpe
Evelyn Arizpe (PhD) is Professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Glasgow. She has conducted pioneering research into children’s responses to picture books and visual literacy. She has been involved in creating educational programs and has focused on migration and displacement in her recent research projects. Evelyn has more than 25 years of experience working with young adult texts and picturebooks and has been part of the jury for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
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Evelyn Arizpe