ABSTRACT
One of the most widely quoted definitions is that by Patricia Waugh: Metafiction is a term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. As metafictional fiction, picturebooks also tend to challenge conventions. Considered "the richest area of experimentation in children's literature", the experimental tendency of picturebooks can be explained by their specific features as material objects. Metafiction, by calling the attention of the reader to the artifact of canonical fiction, joins the experimental impulse of the picturebook. In metafictional picturebooks addressed to children, the theoretical aspect of fiction differs from the type of theory included in self-reflective works directed to adults. Explicit self-consciousness in picturebooks in which books and reading are the theme is perhaps the most evident metafictional strategy.
