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Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library

Bibliography: leaves 310-320.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Deacon, Loraine Elaine
Other Authors: Kesting, J G
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Library and Information Studies Centre (LISC) 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Deacon, Loraine Elaine
author2 Kesting, J G
author_browse Deacon, Loraine Elaine
Kesting, J G
author_facet Kesting, J G
Deacon, Loraine Elaine
author_sort Deacon, Loraine Elaine
collection Thesis
description Bibliography: leaves 310-320.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:37.404Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Library and Information Studies Centre (LISC)
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15785 Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library Deacon, Loraine Elaine Kesting, J G Children - Books and reading Child psychology Bibliography: leaves 310-320. One of the main hypotheses under scrutiny is that a child's responses to a children's book are likely to be influenced to a significant degree by his stage of cognitive development. A second major premise is that domains of human development and existence other than the cognitive (such as the emotional, physical and social) will also play a role in such responses. The two main components of the dissertation are: (a) a literature survey (Section B, Ch. 2 - 6, Section C, Ch. 7 - 8); and (b) an empirical study (Section D, Ch. 9 - 10). The literature survey comprises two fields, viz (a) child development theories, including those of cognitive development, with particular reference to the writings of Piaget; and (b) aspects of children's literature in general, as well as an analysis of the book selected for the empirical study, viz Sendak's Where the wild things are. An outline of the methodology of the empirical study precedes the analysis of the data obtained in a study of the responses of 104 subjects, selected by random sampling at a Cape Town public library during afternoons over a four-week period in March 1984. The subjects ranged in age from 7 to 12 years, i.e., the Piagetian period of concrete and formal operations respectively. Data were collected by the completion of an interview schedule or a questionnaire, identical in wording to the interview schedule. The method of data-collection depended upon the reading and writing ability or the preference of the subject. Time allowed for the reading of the book by the subject (or by the researcher on behalf of the subject) and for the answering of the questions was unlimited. Critics' views upon controversial aspects of the book, discussed in the literature survey, formed the basis of the eleven questions, five of which were dichotomous and six of which were open. The aspects were: (a) the possibility that there are fear-inducing elements in the book; (b) the effect upon the child of the handling of the anger of Max, the protagonist, by the author-artist; (c) the realisation by the child reader that Max's mother loves her son; and (d) the awareness on the part of the child of the distinction between fantasy and reality. The subjects were divided into two groups, viz those in the period of concrete operations (7 to 10 years) and those in the period of formal operations (11 to 12 years). Responses (with the exception of those to the last question, which required literature appreciation responses) were classified with reference to the cognitive, emotional, physical and social domains to yield quantitative and qualitative results. These results substantiate the main hypotheses. It was also found that, although some respondents experienced fear or anger during exposure to Where the wild things are, the impact of these negative emotions could be offset by an awareness on the part of the majority of the subjects of the love directed at Max by his mother. The majority of subjects were able to distinguish between the fantasy world and the reality of Max's home. 2015-12-13T04:19:16Z 2015-12-13T04:19:16Z 1984 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15785 eng application/pdf Library and Information Studies Centre (LISC) University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Children - Books and reading
Child psychology
Deacon, Loraine Elaine
Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library
title_full Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library
title_fullStr Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library
title_full_unstemmed Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library
title_short Children's responses to Maurice Sendak's "Where the wild things are" : a study conducted at a Cape Town public library
title_sort children s responses to maurice sendak s where the wild things are a study conducted at a cape town public library
topic Children - Books and reading
Child psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15785
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