ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the most important aspects: visual and verbal depiction of the character, the representation of his or her qualities through actions and choices, and his or her relationships with peers and adults. The history of childhood published by the historian Philippe Aries and the work by Michel Foucault are preconditions for Rose's attention to the need for a critical approach to images of childhood. A critical approach to representations of different ethnic groups and minorities, gender, and sexuality has been part of literary and cultural studies in recent decades. Although meta-critical studies of childhood in children's literature are abundant, specific discussions of approaches to the analysis of representations of childhood in picturebooks have been scarce. Finally, representations of childhood have been subject to humorous, parodic, and grotesque depictions from the beginning of picturebook production.
