When Fear Knocks on the Door: The Case of a Picture Book
Pei An, Rita Casadei
Social-emotional competencies involve skills that enable children to explore the world, understand themselves and build relationships with others. The role of the picture book can be an important source, cross-culturally, to evoke children to perceive, facilitate, understand and manage their emotions. The present study aimed at giving voice to early childhood from a social-emotional learning perspective, using an exemplarily selected picture book When Fear Knocks on the Door (An, 2018). Participants were pupils aged between 3 to 10 years and teachers from China and Italy, from primary schools and preschools. It lasted from 2021 to 2023 and used the action research methodology. This contribution6 starts with a pedagogical frame, focusing on the need for an integrated educational project shaping spaces and actions for deep and lasting development of children’s social and emotional skills and well-being.
Keywords
Picture book, Social-emotional learning, Life skills, China, Italy.
