Examination of text and visuals in children's picture books in terms of geographical concepts

The aim of this research is to examine the geographical concepts in the images and texts of children's picture books. In the present study, scanning model, one of the qualitative research models, was used. Document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the data collection phase. The universe of the research consists of children's books with local and translated pictures, which are intended for pre-school and primary school students, covering the age range of 5-13, belonging to 30 national publishing houses in Turkey. The sample of the research consists of a total of 107 children's picture books, 22 of which are children's picture books and 85 of which are translated children's picture books, belonging to 30 national publishing houses. In this research, which was carried out as a scanning model, geographical concepts in the texts and visuals of children's picture books were discussed. Within the scope of the research, only qualitative data were used by using the "Book Evaluation Form" created by the researcher. All the children's picture books determined were read 4 times in total. Geographical elements and components were reviewed in the texts in the first reading, in the visuals in the second reading, and in both the texts and the visuals in the third reading. At the last reading, forms were started to be filled for each book. When the findings reached within the scope of the research are examined, it has been determined that the most common geographical concept in the texts is climate and atmosphere (173), and the least mentioned geographical concept is mines-energy resources (4). The most geographical concept in the images is vegetation (309), and the least mentioned geographical concept is tourism (1). It has been observed that the geographical concept of industry and transportation is not included in the texts of the children's picture books. There is no geographical concept that is not found in the visuals of children's picture books. In the findings of the research, various examples from the texts and visuals of these children's picture books are included. Some of the suggestions developed in the research are as follows: Using different types of books to determine geographical concepts, expanding the research by increasing the number of children's picture books used in the current research, designing a new research based on a certain criterion of the selected books, changing the model of the research, and both teachers and parents supporting this research. It is suggested that their children/students enrich their geographical concept knowledge by examining Keywords: Geography, geographical elements, children's picture books.