An examination of epicurean influences in preschool children's books and an illustrated book application

This thesis aims to examine how the Epicurean understanding, which is based on the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, is reflected in preschool children's books. Epicurus' view that "happiness is possible through the absence of pain and inner peace" overlaps with the narratives often encountered in today's children's books—rosy, humorous, and ending happily. In this context, it has been observed that children's books mostly depict a cheerful and safe world where problems are resolved quickly. Therefore, it has been concluded that the protective attitudes of parents play a decisive role in publishers' preferences to publish books in line with these tendencies. A qualitative method was adopted in the research; through visual analysis and literature review, an examination was carried out from both philosophical and pedagogical perspectives. In the thesis, age groups, themes and values in children's books, as well as the visual and pedagogical features of children's books were analyzed. The historical development of Epicurus' philosophy and understanding of happiness was addressed, the positive effects of the Epicurean approach on children's books were examined, and its negative effects were discussed. The potential support of this effect with pedagogical education models was also considered. In this direction, instead of a book that directly reflects Epicurean influences, an original illustrated preschool children's book was designed and visualized in accordance with the principle of child-appropriateness, which includes not only happiness but also various emotions and realities of life such as sadness, anxiety, and anticipation. This application aimed viii to concretize the conceptual framework of the thesis and to approach it with an art-based method. As a result, the finding reached in the study is that positive and cheerful themes dominate the content of children's books. However, in order for children to develop emotional resilience and the ability to recognize the realities of life, it is considered that more space should be given to content that addresses life's realities in a child-appropriate way in addition to these types of content. Various research articles and best-seller lists on online sales platforms also show that parents tend to rely on these lists when choosing books, and it has been observed that these lists mostly include rosy narratives. This is considered a shortcoming in terms of diversity.