Exploring Canadian Identity Through Canadian Children’s Literature

Sylvia Pantaleo


I think it is important for Canadian students to read books by Canadian authors because they can learn different things about different parts of Canada. (Katelyn, Grade 5 student)

Although several scholars have commented on the importance of Canadian children reading Canadian literature (see, e.g., Bainbridge & Pantaleo, 1999; Dias, 1992; Egoff & Saltman, 1990), little research seems to have been conducted on the use of Canadian literature in elementary schools or its influence on Canadian elementary students. If children’s literature, as Diakiw (1997) argues, is a powerful vehicle for transmitting national culture and identity, we need to ask what commonplaces of culture and identity are being (or could be) transmitted through the use of children’s literature in classrooms. While my focus in this article is on Canadian children’s literature, the question is equally valid for any country. How would Australian children answer the question, “What’s Australian about Australian children’s literature?” How would American, Japanese, Brazilian, or Italian children answer the question if asked about their country’s children’s literature?

  

Related Postings from the Archives


The Adult Perspective | Gaining Children’s Perspective | The Children’s Books | Findings and Discussion | Implications for Teachers | Canadian Children’s Literature Resources | References


What’s Canadian About Canadian Children’s Literature: The Adult Perspective

Nodelman (1997) asked, “What’s Canadian about Canadian children’s literature?” of a variety of adults with an interest in the genre -- authors, editors, teachers, professors, librarians, and booksellers. Some may argue that the citizenship of the author is what labels a book as literature of that author’s country. However, many selections of children’s literature written and illustrated by Canadians are set in other countries (both real and fantastical). Further, some books with Canadian settings, written and illustrated by Canadians, communicate little, if anything, about Canada -- that is, their stories could take place anywhere. Thus, an author’s (or illustrator’s) citizenship status provides only a superficial answer to Nodelman’s query.

Of the 44 people who responded to Nodelman’s question, over three-quarters identified a geographical aspect (landscape, physical setting, regions or communities described) as a characteristic that makes Canadian children’s literature Canadian. For example, university professor Mary Pritchard wrote, “One thing I have always considered characteristic of Canadian literature for children is its fascination with the land” (Nodelman, 1997, p. 16), and Lorraine Anderson, a bookseller, stated, “Canadian children’s literature is distinctly regional” (p. 22).

Approximately one-third of the respondents stated that Canada’s history is somehow reflected in Canadian children’s literature. Judith Saltman, a university professor, stated, “I believe that what makes Canadian children’s literature Canadian is its reflection of our history, values, geography, and stories” (Nodelman, 1997, p. 21). Canada’s cultural diversity was also mentioned by over one-third of the respondents. Jan Andrews, a storyteller and writer, noted that when reading Canadian children’s literature, “you’ll struggle with the tensions inherent in the coming together of peoples with different heritages and roots” (p. 17).

Approximately one-half of the respondents mentioned how Canadian children’s literature reflects Canadian “experiences.” Professor Ron Jobe explained that books like those of Robert Munsch and Paulette Bourgeois, which feature the daily lives of young children, “can give a Canadian outlook and sense of values” (Nodelman, 1997, p. 29). Juliana Saxton, another professor, indicated, “Canadian stories offer rich resources for drama because they address the landscape of our experiences, both metaphorically and literally, in a way that stories from other places cannot” (p. 18).

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Gaining Children’s Perspective: The Research Study

The responses to “What’s Canadian about Canadian children’s literature?” given by these adult “experts” are indeed of interest; however, I could not help but wonder how children might answer the question. The project described here involved a class of 28 Grade 5 students (aged approximately 10 years) who read Canadian picture books and explored Nodelman’s question in classroom sessions three times a week over a 4-week period. The transferability of the findings are limited by several factors, including the geographical site of the project and the life and school experiences of the participants. (The students attended a school with a largely homogeneous, stable population in a city in eastern Ontario; 26 of the 28 students were white.) However, I believe the outcomes demonstrate some general trends. Certainly the unit was interesting for these students, providing them with a clear purpose to read a variety of children’s literature.

Ascertaining prior knowledge and beliefs. Prior to reading the books, the students participated in an independent brainstorming activity. The children were asked to write down words or phrases that communicated their knowledge about Canada. When the items generated in this activity were analyzed by topic, approximately one-third of the words or phrases were categorized as geographical (e.g., names of provinces and territories, land forms), nearly one-fifth as relating to nature or weather, and approximately another fifth as national symbols (e.g., the Maple Leaf flag, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the moose). Subsequent to the brainstorming activity, students each wrote letters to an imaginary child in a foreign country in which they described Canada and explained what it is like being a Canadian and living in Canada. A thematic analysis of the content of the letters revealed that weather, physical geography, and national pride were the three main subjects addressed.

Modeling the process. First, the class participated in a discussion about how authors and illustrators communicate such information as setting, people, culture, and economy in their books. The students were told that they would be asked to consider the ways that picture books depicted life in Canada -- to identify “clues” that communicated the “Canadianness” of the books.

To model the process, the teacher read No Such Thing as Far Away, written by Laura Langston and illustrated by Robert Amos, aloud to the class. A discussion followed about the book’s depiction of life in Canada. Students also discussed experiences in Langston’s book that were familiar and unfamiliar to them. Since the teacher guided the students in their responses to the book, the children’s comments about No Such Thing as Far Away were not included in the data analysis.

Choosing the children’s books. The ten picture books used in the study were recommended in issues of Our Choice, a guide to the best in Canadian children’s books, audios, videos, and CD-ROMs published annually by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Each book was examined to ensure that it explicitly communicated a Canadian setting through the illustrations or text. In addition, the books were selected to depict different geographical regions in Canada and different periods of the country’s history.

The ten books are listed below. Click on a title (or on any of the book covers shown later in the article) to read a brief description, bibliographic data, and a summary of the Canadian clues identified by the students.

The students’ turn. Multiple copies of each of the ten books chosen for the project were available, and the students selected which books to read independently. When a student had finished reading a book, he or she was asked to write comments about the selection in a literature notebook. Variations occurred in the number of Canadian clues identified in each book, in the number of students who read each book, and in the total number of books read by each student (due to reading speed and absences caused by sickness or participation in pull-out programs).

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Findings and Discussion

The purpose of the following discussion is not to compare the students’ answers to the adults’ to see if the children were “right.” Instead, the comparison serves as an organizational structure for the discussion. Further, like earlier research (e.g., Kellerman, 1991, online abstract; Nilsen, Peterson, & Searfoss, 1980; Pascoe & Gilchrist, 1987), the comparison shows how adults and children can differ in their opinions about children’s literature.

cover of Hold on, McGinty!As mentioned earlier, over three-quarters of the adults who answered Nodelman’s (1997) “What’s Canadian about Canadian children’s literature?” question mentioned aspects of geography. In their brainstorming and letter-writing activities, the Grade 5 students indicated that they believed geography to be a salient characteristic of Canada. With respect to the picture books, several Canadian clues identified by the children dealt with geography. For example, for Hold on, McGinty! students listed Newfoundland, the prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and British Columbia as Canadian clues. The Rocky Mountains were also identified as a Canadian clue by approximately half the children who read Tiger’s New Cowboy Boots. The prairies were listed as a Canadian feature for Belle’s Journey, The Dust Bowl, and Tess. Approximately half the children who read Very Last First Time identified the setting, Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, as a Canadian clue.

Several students who read Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails mentioned the Northern Lights and the weather (winter and snow) as Canadian clues. Weather was also identified as a Canadian clue by one-quarter to one-half of the students who read The Moccasin Goalie, Very Last First Time, At Grandpa’s Sugar Bush, Tess, and Belle’s Journey. Other physical characteristics of the country, such as abundant open space, water, and vegetation (e.g., maple trees, sugar bush), were also mentioned by the participants. Not surprisingly, many of the students’ answers reflected the regionalism of the settings of the picture books.

cover of The Mocassin GoalieApproximately one-half of the adults in Nodelman’s survey explained that Canadian children’s literature reflects Canadian “experiences.” An overwhelming number of the Canadian clues identified by the students dealt with the experiences of characters in the books. Of the 17 children who read The Moccasin Goalie, 16 identified hockey as a prominent Canadian clue. Soccer was listed as a Canadian clue by 11 of the 17 children who read Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails. All nine students who read The Fishing Summer identified fishing as an aspect of life in Canada.

For several books, characters’ experiences were interconnected with the settings of the stories. For example, making maple syrup (At Grandpa’s Sugar Bush), participating in a cattle drive (Tiger’s New Cowboy Boots), going under the ice at the ocean shore to collect mussels (Very Last First Time), and growing wheat (The Dust Bowl) are activities that depend on specific geographical factors, and hence are regional in nature. Many of the children appeared to agree with Patricia Vickery (an educator and poet), who answered Nodelman’s question by saying that Canadian’s children’s literature focuses on life in a “geographic landscape and a child’s experiences in it” (Nodelman, 1997, p. 28).

Canada’s cultural diversity was mentioned by over one-third of the adults who answered Nodelman’s question. The Grade 5 children made reference to Canada’s cultural diversity when discussing two of the picture books, though it appeared to have been a minor clue: 6 of the 13 students who read Very Last First Time and 6 of the 17 who read Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails mentioned the inclusion of Inuit people as an indication of Canadianness. Perhaps the students did not see cultural diversity as a defining characteristic of Canada, or perhaps the school’s homogeneous cultural composition may account for the small number of comments about the multicultural aspects of the two books.

cover of Belle's JourneyWhen answering Nodelman’s question, approximately one-third of the adults stated that Canada’s history is somehow reflected in its children’s literature. Three of the books used in the study have an historical setting: Tess, Belle’s Journey, and The Dust Bowl. Individual children identified living in a cabin and running low on money as clues that Tess is a Canadian book. None of the 14 students who read Belle’s Journey identified historical clues. Of the 16 students who read The Dust Bowl, two mentioned the “Dirty Thirties” and one identified the British flag in an illustration. In sum, historical references played a very minor role in the children’s consideration of the depiction of Canada.

Curtis and Moir (1982) write that it is “from stories we learn our connectedness and continuity as family members, as a society, as a culture; our roles and responsibilities, our expectations, and the expectations of others. It is from stories we learn our mores and our values as a group and as a member of that group” (p. 1). Though his words would apply to the literature of any country, Diakiw (1997) argues that there are “powerful commonplaces in our [Canadian] culture and identity -- shared values that most Canadians can identify with -- and that school is an important place to explore, discuss and debate these commonplaces” (1997, p. 37). He, like many others, believes that “story and literature are important ways to reveal these commonplaces” and that a connection exists between Canadian cultural identity and Canadian literature (p. 36). He further explains that in “most culturally homogeneous countries, children grow up hearing and learning the stories that define their culture...and these shared stories lie at the heart of a culture’s identity.... Literature, arts and crafts, music, dance, film, and poetry blend together over time to crystallize an image that says, ‘This is who we are’” (p. 37).

In Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the end of the Twentieth Century, Saul (1997) writes that “immigrants who come here [to Canada] and stay do so because in the long run they want to become something called Canadian” (p. 439). But what is this “something called Canadian”? A 1991 national survey found that, in general, “Canadians identify most strongly with being Canadian, rather than identifying with their ethnic origins” (Esses & Gardner, 1996, online document). Further, work by Lipset (1990) demonstrated a relationship between strength of regional loyalty and strength of identity with a nation. In general, the research literature seems to refer to three interdependent and synergistic dimensions of Canadian identity: national, regional, and multicultural.

The Grade 5 students remarked on some of the geographical, experiential, and historical elements in the selections of Canadian children’s literature. Several of the Canadian clues they identified were somewhat stereotypical -- aspects of Canadian life that many non-Canadians would associate with Canada. In addition, the children did not comment on many aspects of the books’ text or illustrations. Overall, the students’ responses appeared to reflect the influence of the regional dimension of Canadian identity; most children seemed uncertain about experiential information drawn from western, Atlantic, and northern Canada, areas geographical distant from the eastern Ontario city. For example, at the request of several students, I located the prairie provinces and Ungava Bay on a map. With regards to specific books, only one student who read The Moccasin Goalie identified the prairies as a Canadian clue. Despite the fact that the first line of Very Last First Time is “Eva Padlyat lived in a village on Ungava Bay in northern Canada,” only one-half of the students who read this book identified the setting as a Canadian clue. Of those students who read Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails only one-third remarked on the presence of Inuit people as a Canadian clue.

Besner (1997) writes that the concept of region may serve as a ground for identity and suggests the “possibility of understanding regionalism, not in opposition against a national literature, and not as a more narrow literature, but as a literature that imagines location as ‘identity’” (p. 19). Canada’s vastness would seem to be factor in explaining both the amount and the regional nature of the children’s knowledge of Canada.

In social constructivist theory, deep understandings and concept development are seen as active constructions created by individual learners in specific social contexts and in collaboration and communication with others. Schutz (1973) explains that “knowledge is socially rooted, socially distributed, and socially informed. Yet its individuated expression depends on the unique placement of the individual in the social world” (p. xxix). The participants in this project held unique and personal understandings and beliefs about Canada and of what it means to be Canadian as a result of their experiences in the social world, including the world of the classroom.

Reader-response theorists such as Rosenblatt (1976, 1978) and Iser (1980) believe that readers are actively involved in the construction of meaning. Readers will differ in their experiences of and responses to literature due to particular textual, reader, and contextual factors. Indeed, an individual’s “linguistic-experiential reservoir reflects the reader’s cultural, social, and personal history” (Rosenblatt, 1994, p. 1064). Canadian literature may therefore communicate different things to different readers at different times. Indeed, the perceived “Canadianness” of a text will be affected by the relationship assumed and developed with a text by an individual as the book is read.

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Implications for Teachers

As stated earlier, literature is one vehicle that can reveal and communicate our culture and identity. Diamond and Moore (1995) cite several studies that link the short- and long-term effects of students’ reading about their own culture and the cultures of others to higher self-esteem and improved academic achievement. Literature can reflect and validate familiar experiences and cultures of students and reveal similarities and differences between one’s own culture and the culture of others. Eeds and Hudelson (1995) write,

Literature provides a lens through which we can examine our own lives, our own experiences, our own cultural realities, our own world viewpoints. But literature also allows us to enter into realities that are different from our own. When we do this, we broaden our perspectives and extend our humanity by considering ways of thinking and making sense of lives other than our own. We may also create connections; we may construct meanings that focus on how we are similar as well as how we are different. (pp. 3-4)

In a questionnaire administered at the end of the study, 24 of the 28 children indicated that they believe it is important for Canadian students to read books written by Canadian authors. Katelyn’s comments at the beginning of the article are representative of her classmates’ opinions. Overwhelmingly, the children agreed that people can learn about Canada by reading Canadian literature. Students noted that “Canadian literature shows how Canadian life elsewhere in Canada can differ from ours,” “Students can learn about some things that happened in the past or they can learn about different places in Canada,” and “Canadian literature can show students what it is like outside of where [city or province] they live.”

Teachers’ knowledge about children’s literature is of critical importance to the success of literature-based literacy programs. Therefore, a strong recommendation emerging from this study is that teachers need to learn about their national children’s literature. (For those who want to learn more about Canadian literature, a resource list of organizations, publications, and Web sites is linked here.) Literature, regardless of country of origin, plays a fundamental role in developing an understanding of and appreciation for one’s own culture and the cultures of others.

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References

Bainbridge, J., & Pantaleo, S. (1999). Learning with literature in the Canadian elementary classroom. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta Press & Duval House.
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Besner, N. (1997). Canadian children’s regional literature: Fictions first. Canadian Children’s Literature, 23(2), 17-26.
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Curtis, W., & Moir, H. (1982). Understanding the storyteller’s art. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the World Congress on Reading, Dublin, Ireland. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 222 923)
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Diakiw, J. (1997). Children’s literature and Canadian national identity: A revisionist perspective. Canadian Children’s Literature, 23(3), 36-49.
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Diamond, B.J., & Moore, M.A. (1995). Multicultural literacy: Mirroring the reality of the classroom. White Plains, NY: Longman.
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Dias, P. (1992). Cultural literacy, national curriculum: What (and how) does every Canadian student really need to know? English Quarterly, 24(3/4), 10-19.
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Eeds, M., & Hudelson, S. (1995). Literature as foundation for personal and classroom life. Primary Voices K-6, 3(2), 2-7.
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Egoff, S., & Saltman, J. (1990). The new republic of childhood: A critical guide to Canadian children’s literature in English. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
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Esses, V., & Gardner, R. (1996). Multiculturalism in Canada: Context and current status. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 28(3). Available: http:www.cpa.ca/cjbsnew/1996/ful_edito.html
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Iser, W. (1980). The reading process: A phenomenological approach. In J. Tompkins (Ed.), Reader-response criticism: From formalism to post-structuralism (pp. 50-59). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
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Kellerman, K.K. (1991). Students’ rejection of teacher choice of free reading books. Unpublished master’s thesis, Kean College, Union, New Jersey. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 329 949) Abstract available: www.edrs.com/Webstore/Detail.CFM?Ednumber=ED329949
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Langston, L. (1994). No such thing as far away. Victoria, BC: Orca.

Lipset, S.M. (1990). Continental divide. New York: Routledge.
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Nilsen, A.P., Peterson, R., & Searfoss, L.W. (1980). The adult as critic vs. the child as reader. Language Arts, 57(5), 530-539.
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Nodelman, P. (1997). What’s Canadian about Canadian children’s literature? A compendium of answers to the question. Canadian Children’s Literature, 23(3), 15-35.
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Pascoe, E., & Gilchrist, M. (1987). Children’s responses to literature: Views of children and teachers. English in Australia, 81, 55-62.
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Rosenblatt, L. (1976). Literature as exploration (4th ed.). New York: Modern Language Association of America.
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Rosenblatt, L. (1978). The reader, the text, the poem: The transactional theory of the literary work. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
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Rosenblatt, L. (1994). The transactional theory of reading and writing. In R.B. Ruddell, M.R. Ruddell, & H. Singer (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4th ed., pp. 1057-1092). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
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Saul, J. (1997). Reflections of a Siamese twin: Canada at the end of the twentieth century. Toronto, ON: Viking.
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Schutz, A. (1973). Collected papers 1: The problem of social reality. The Hague, Netherlands: Nijhoff.
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About the Author

portrait of Sylvia PantaleoSylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in children’s literature and all areas of the language arts. She is coauthor (with J. Bainbridge) of Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom. Contact Sylvia by e-mail at pantaleo@uvic.ca.

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Citation: Pantaleo, S. (2001, September). Exploring Canadian identity through Canadian children’s literature. Reading Online, 5(2). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/international/inter_index.asp?HREF=pantaleo/index.html



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Posted September 2001
© 2001 International Reading Association, Inc.   ISSN 1096-1232