Examination of detective fiction works addressed to children in terms of main characters and pedagogical function

Children's age level, interests and their needs, desires, perception and understanding level differ from those of an adult. Children are more investigative in terms of curiosity, discovery and acquiring new information. It is thought that fictional works written in the detective genre will contribute to the development of reading habits in child readers by appealing to the investigative nature of the child reader. owing to their fondness for adventure, child readers are very interested in this genre. Through such works, the child reader reaches a conclusion and helps solve a situation. This helps them experience problems indirectly and improves their analytical thinking skills. But sometimes the detective works faces unfair criticism. The aim of this research is to examine detective fiction works addressed to children in terms of main character and pedagogical function. To achieve this aim, qualitative research method was used. Document review technique was used to collect data, and descriptive analysis approach was used to analyze the data. In the study, nine different works of children's literature exemplifying the detective genre were analyzed. As a result of the review, the works in question were examined in terms of main character and pedagogical dimensions. As a result, it is thought that reading detective works will contribute to the development of child readers in individual, social and psychological aspects. In these works, the child reader acquires indirect experience and the ability to deal with problems by identifying with the main characters who investigate, question, and experience curiosity and excitement at the highest levels.