1st Edition
The Power of Narrative in Early Childhood
1. Introduction: Understanding the Significance of Narrative
Karen Daniels and Lucy Rodriguez Leon
2. Consuming and Producing Narrative in Early Childhood: Multimodal and Multimedia Stories
Lucy Rodriguez Leon
3. Sensory Aspects of Children’s Stories
Ingrid Midteide Løkken, Petra Vackova, and Natalia Ingebretsen Kucirkova
4. Young Children Create Personal Stories Every Day
Amanda White, Janet S. Gaffney, and Helen Hedges
5. Bringing Things to Life: The Emergence of Anthropomorphism in Young Children’s Narrative Play
Karen Daniels
6. Promoting Social Justice and Equity Through Stories
Lucy Rodriguez Leon
7. Story and Wellbeing
Olivia Richards
8. Stories, Embodied Engagement and Play
Samantha Jayne Hulston
9. Critical Posthuman Perspectives on ‘Suitable’ Stories
Bessie P. Dernikos
10. Nurturing Children’s Narrative Confidence Through a Storyplay Approach in South Africa
Carole Bloch, Ntombizanele Nkence, and Sara Stanley
11. Early Authoring
Niamh Watkins
12. Conclusion and Reflections for Practice and Research
Lucy Rodriguez Leon and Karen Daniels
Biography
Karen Daniels is Associate Professor of Early Literacies at Sheffield Hallam University. Karen began her career as a primary and early years teacher and moved into higher education in 2010. Her current research involves exploring the relationships between embodied meaning making and young children’s emerging literacy practices.
Lucy Rodriguez Leon is a Senior Lecturer in Education (Early Childhood) at the Open University in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. Lucy’s research explores the ways in which young children engage with the multitude of written and multimodal texts they encounter before beginning formal education.
‘This rich and inspiring reminder of the power of narrative in early childhood significantly advances the field. The contributors document the multimodal nature of children’s stories, their agency, remixing of new media, as well as their deep affective and embodied engagement. These are tales worth telling, offering scholars and practitioners alike, new insights into children’s need for narrative and revealing its empowering potential. An unmissable collection.’
Professor Teresa Cremin, CBE, The Open University, UK
