“My Fish Died and I Flushed Him Down the Toilet”: Children Disrupt Preservice Teachers’ Understandings of “Appropriate” Picture Books for Young Children

Although the literature on picture books is extensive, very little work focuses on how they are integrated into teacher education curricula. We contend that effective use of these resources requires an understanding of the relationship between preservice teachers’ conceptions of children and of picture books. Second-year South African undergraduate preservice teachers were asked to review 12 picture books of their own choosing, discuss some of these books with children, and write reflections on what they learnt from the children’s responses. Two hundred and thirty picture-book reviews and 62 reflections were analyzed. The data show that preservice teachers’ criteria for choosing books were disrupted by children’s views. We conclude by considering our own assumptions about our students and the implications for teacher education curriculum design.