Children's Literature and Diabetes
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Abstract
My studies consider the genre of children's literature, specifically picture books, and their treatment of the topic of diabetes. I frame my argument with an examination of diabetes, the psychological effects of diabetes on the child, the need of thorough education about diabetes. I argue for the use of the picture book as an effect tool in educating and socializing the diabetic child. I first explore the implications of diabetes and the long term complications caused by one's poor control of the disease. I then explore the psychological ramifications of a chronic illness on the young child. Next I assert the need to combine the physiological and psychological factors of diabetes into a responsible text for children, one which both serves as an educating tool and a source of comfort in difficult times with the disease. I conclude my studies with critiques of existing materials in the limited genre and compare them to the story I have written for children about diabetes.