An analysis of illustrated children's books with a values education theme

The purpose of this study is to examine value-oriented picture storybooks designed for early childhood. For this purpose, the books were analyzed in terms of illustration, content, values, and developmental areas using the document analysis method. Within the scope of the research, a total of 38 picture storybooks from four different publishing houses that publish value education series for early childhood were examined. These included Turkey's Religious Foundation (Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı) with 15 books, İş Bankası Publishing with 5 books, Kırmızı Kedi Çocuk with 10 books, and Nar Çocuk with 8 books. The research data were collected using the Picture Storybooks Evaluation Scale, the 3-6 Years Children's Book Review Form, and the Picture Storybooks Values Analysis Form developed by the researcher. According to the findings, the examined books addressed many values such as friendship, trust, helpfulness, responsibility, respect, and love. The most frequently emphasized core values were responsibility, self-confidence, respect, love, sharing, helpfulness, compassion, and patience. When the picture storybooks in the value education series were evaluated in terms of illustrations and content features, it was found that the publications of Kırmızı Kedi Çocuk received higher scores compared to the others. In these books, values were presented within a single plot line from both individual and social perspectives. The publications of Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı generally presented values in a didactic manner, and in some works, children's developmental characteristics were overlooked. In the books of İş Bankası Publishing, values were addressed in both social and individual contexts; however, some negative examples were employed in the process of value transmission. In Nar Çocuk publications, a didactic style was preferred, some books did not meet the criteria supporting children's developmental characteristics, and the works did not focus on a single value. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the picture storybooks in the value education series possessed features that could contribute to children's language development, cognitive development, personality formation, and social development. Keywords: Early Childhood Period, Values Education, Children's Literature, Picture Storybook.