Smith, Kara Michele2024-01-042024-01-042010https://hdl.handle.net/10365/33570This research examines gender depictions in 20 current bestselling children's picture books. I argue that children's picture books, specifically those aimed at children 0-5 years of age, portray gender in a way that potentially limits girls in developing and achieving their goals because of the limited options presented to them based on gender and also constrains boys' emotional growth due to the rigid standards depicted for them. These depictions are especially critical during the Sensorimotor and Preoperational stages in children's development because they are developmentally primed for acquiring and being socialized to gender knowledge. Extending the work of Hamilton et al., this research reaffirms their findings, showing that nearly a decade later, in terms of gender depictions in children's picture books, little progress has been made. Females are still largely underrepresented in central roles and in illustrations, are passive, and are presented with limited options in terms of occupations, while males are portrayed as active and independent and have a variety of occupational choices available to them. Additionally, this study employs a contemporary visual rhetorical lens to further enrich our understanding of the gender depictions in children's picture books by analyzing illustrations in terms of McCloud's definitions of the relationships between text and images and Horn's notions of proximity, white space, placement, distance, and angle. This portion of the analysis reinforces the findings and allows for a more articulated discussion of gender depictions in children's picture books.NDSU policy 190.6.2https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdfPicture books for children -- Criticism and interpretation.Children -- Books and reading.Children's literature -- Illustrations -- Themes, motives.Master's Paper