Investigation of Popular Children's Literature Works in Terms of Root Values: Exaggeration Dust and Grandpa’s Grocery

Abstract

Children's literature products are of great importance in the development of children, in the formation of their characters and additive identities. Children reach children's literature products through lessons from the moment they start school with the contribution of the family in the pre-school period. In addition to acquainting children with literary works and gaining reading habits, it is important which books they read. Because the most effective power that provides social continuity between societies is education. Social values, awareness of being human, family, individual and citizen, in short, cultural accumulation can be transferred to the child through education. One of the best tools to provide this transfer in educational institutions is literary products. For this reason, it is important to examine the values in children's literature and the way these values are handled in a positive and negative way. The aim of this research is to read Şermin Yaşar's books, Exaggeration Dust and Grandpa’s Grocery, which are found to be widely read by secondary school students, based on the ten root values (justice, friendship, honesty, self-control, patience, respect, love, responsibility, patriotism, helpfullnes) in the Turkish Lesson Curriculum of the Ministry of National Education. Document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research, and content analysis technique was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, while the values of respect (26%), helpfulness (17%) and honesty (14%) were the most common values in the book of Grandpa’sGrocery, the values of patriotism (0%) and patience (1%) were the least included; In the Exaggeration Dust book, the values of love (23%), responsibility (20%) and helpfullness (18%) were most frequently included, while patriotism (1%) and honesty (2%) values were the least included.