Can Göknil's children's books format and content features

Reading habits for children are an extremely important acquisition in terms of Turkish language education, which should be developed during the school period. In this period, it is of great importance for children to be introduced to quality literary works. At this point, children's literature has an important function. One of the authors who has produced works in the field of children's literature is Can Göknil. In this study, the form and content features of Can Göknil's children's books are examined. Can Göknil has been contributing to children's literature for fifty years, from his first illustrated children's book, Kirpi Masalı, published in 1974 to the present day. It is seen that the author draws from mythology, astrology, fairy tales, riddles, nursery rhymes, and daily life in his works. In particular, in the illustrated books he published for preschoolers, he aimed to educate his target audience, children, with different subjects such as letters, numbers, animals, plants, synonyms and antonyms. In addition to being an artist, he is a successful painter who has opened many exhibitions in different countries of the world, both at home and abroad, and has won awards. He illustrates the works of children's literature he has written, as well as being the illustrator of other authors' works. This study, which examines the children's books of Can Göknil, who has been contributing works to children's literature for many years, in terms of form and content, consists of four sections. In the first section, a literature review on children's literature was conducted; the definition, purpose, and historical development of children's literature were emphasized, and the criteria for examining children's literature products in terms of form and content were discussed. At the end of the section, children's literature genres and values education were included. In the second section, Can Göknil's life, painting, literary personality, and works were discussed. The third section includes the findings of the research. In the findings section, Can Göknil's twenty children's literature works, which constitute the sample of the research, were examined in terms of form and content. In the fourth section, conclusions were reached based on the findings and suggestions were made. Keywords: Children's literature, preschool period, children's picture books, Can Göknil.