ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Shared-picture book reading can stimulate children’s mathematical development. Evidence of learning-supportive characteristics in picture books is limited in this domain. A first step is systematically analyzing the occurrence of domain-specific features in publicly available picture books. We analyzed the occurrence of general book features, features of numbers and quantitative language, and features of sets in 100 mathematical and 45 matched non-mathematical picture books written in Dutch. The results indicated variety among picture books, but more than 50% of the mathematical picture books focused on the 1–10 number range and ascending counting, and less than 20% paid attention to the counting principles and other numeracy skills. Quantitative language was included in 75% of the mathematical picture books, but infrequently across pages and with little variety in wording. Mathematical picture books with a story hardly differed from picture books without a story regarding the presence of domain-specific features. Finally, fewer non-mathematical picture books included mathematical content and generally on less pages compared to mathematical picture books. Practice or Policy: These findings stress the importance for picture book developers and teachers and parents to, respectively, design and select picture books in view of literature regarding children’s mathematical development.

摘要

研究成果：共享图画书阅读可以刺激孩子的数学发展。图画书中支持学习特征的证据在这一领域是有限的。第一步是系统地分析公开图画书中特定领域特征的出现。我们分析了 100 本荷兰语数学图画书和 45 本相匹配的非数学图画书中的一般书籍特征、数字和定量语言特征以及集合特征的出现情况。结果表明，图画书种类繁多，但超过50%的数学图画书侧重于1-10数字范围和升序计数，不到20%关注计数原理和其他计算技能。75%的数学图画书中都包含了定量语言，但很少跨页且措辞变化不大。关于特定领域特征的存在，有故事的数学图画书与没有故事的图画书几乎没有区别。最后，与数学图画书相比，包含数学内容的非数学图画书较少，而且页数通常较少。实践或政策：这些发现强调了图画书开发商、教师和家长分别根据有关儿童数学发展的文献设计和选择图画书的重要性。