Fill In the Blanks: White Space in Children's Picture Books on Grief and Loss

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Holt, S. (2020). Fill In the Blanks: White Space in Children's Picture Books on Grief and Loss. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

White space in picture books about grief and loss is space that becomes participatory by asking the reader or listener to make sense of what they are seeing while simultaneously joining it with their own real life experiences. This thesis examines the functions of white space in three representative children’s picture books about grief and loss—Saying Goodbye to Grandma (Thomas); Ida, Always (Levis and Santoso); The Rabbit Listened (Doerrfeld)—in order to allow us to see white space represented as boundary space, as participatory space, and as safe space. Over the course of this thesis, I will examine the role of white space in order to demonstrate that it is not simply a space where illustration is lacking, but is a functional space filled with our own conceptions of boundaries, emotions, and experiences.

Details
Author

Holt, Samantha

Title

Fill In the Blanks: White Space in Children's Picture Books on Grief and Loss

Physical Description

1 online resource (81 pages) : PDF

Date

2020

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

White space in picture books about grief and loss is space that becomes participatory by asking the reader or listener to make sense of what they are seeing while simultaneously joining it with their own real life experiences. This thesis examines the functions of white space in three representative children’s picture books about grief and loss—Saying Goodbye to Grandma (Thomas); Ida, Always (Levis and Santoso); The Rabbit Listened (Doerrfeld)—in order to allow us to see white space represented as boundary space, as participatory space, and as safe space. Over the course of this thesis, I will examine the role of white space in order to demonstrate that it is not simply a space where illustration is lacking, but is a functional space filled with our own conceptions of boundaries, emotions, and experiences.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

English literature

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Children's Literature
Grief
Illustration
Picture Books
Trauma
White Space

Subject Area

English

Advisor(s)

Connolly, Paula

Committee Members

West, Mark
Socolovsky, Maya

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020.

Rights Statement

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Holt_uncc_0694N_12509

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2195