An analysis of the concept of game and toy in children's books

The purpose of this study is to analyze the concept of "game and toy" in children's books which have a power of affecting children's game perceptions, choices, creativity and game behaviors and to reveal the game and toy preferences presented in these works, their contribution to a child's development, characteristic properties, game areas, cultural elements in games, elements encouraging children to make their own toys, positive and negative messages conveyed by games and how all these bear features that are appropriate for relevant developmental periods accepted in the literature. Data set of the study consists of 100 children's books, which have been sent to Muğla Şehbal Baydur Children's Library by the General Directorate of Libraries and Publications, written for children from infancy to the end of primary school (0 – 13 years) and published in Turkish for the past five years (2013-2017). The data were collected using document examination method and an evaluation form – control list prepared by the researcher under the guidance of the literature knowledge and consisting of four sections and three main themes as data collection tool. The data acquired within the scope of the study were analyzed and interpreted using; descriptive analysis, which is among qualitative research methods. As a result of the study, it was seen that 84 of the books which were analyzed include the concept of game – toy. In majority of these books, the characteristics of the concept of game – toy are included in the texts (n=31) or both in the texts and illustrations (n=47); whereas in some of them, the concept of game – toy are only included in the illustrations of the books (n=6). The aspects of children's books that need to be improved were determined to be; being a role model via characters, teaching cultural elements concerning games and toys and handing them down the next generations, presenting different games in the story to support creativity and describing them in detail and asking an expert's opinion concerning the concept of game and toy. Keywords: Child, book, literature, game, toy