The theme of disability in children's literature works

The aim of this study is to describe the disability status in children's books. The material of the study consisted of 40 children's books containing disabled characters, which were scanned through various bookstores and digital platforms. The data obtained by document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, were evaluated by content analysis. The results show that there have been significant developments in books for secondary school level in recent years regarding the theme of disability. It was determined that bibliotherapeutic messages in children's books are numerous and generally have positive qualities. When the developmental characteristics of the heroes were analysed, it was determined that the characters were mostly selected in accordance with the concrete operations period and later. The most common type of disability in the books is physical disability. In addition to disability, it was noteworthy that various themes such as friendship and solidarity, love of nature and animals, benefit to society, curiosity about science, and freedom were covered in the books. It was determined that the age range of the protagonists spread over a wide range and this situation increased the character diversity. The fact that disabled characters have an open and dynamic character structure made their developmental processes visible in the books. It was determined that concepts, medical terms and treatment processes related to disability were included in the works and that the heroes generally experienced a positive transformation in their attitudes towards themselves. The majority of the books have a happy ending.