Bibliotherapy Features in Children’s Literature: A Systematic Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/jikm.v15i1.4592Keywords:
Bibliotherapy, Children's literature, Therapeutic reading, Information scienceAbstract
Children's literature is a powerful tool in bibliotherapy, helping children navigate social and emotional challenges by connecting them with relatable characters and situations. This therapeutic method embraces diverse perspectives and relevant issues, encouraging the development of new values. The current study reviews literature on bibliotherapy features in children’s literature with the purposes of ascertaining the attributes and components of children's literature that may potentially facilitate emotional metamorphosis and bolster personal development. The review selected 33 English-language publications in the field of bibliotherapy and children’s literature from peer-reviewed journals indexed in the Web of Science, and Scopus. The major findings demonstrate that the effective bibliotherapy focus on key elements such as well-crafted characters, compelling plots, universal themes, and empathy, supported by high-quality writing and illustrations. Additionally, the process is highly personalized, taking into account readability and the child’s developmental stage. Overall, bibliotherapy provides a valuable approach for nurturing emotional and psychological growth, offering a safe space for children to explore and reflect through literature. Selecting appropriate literary materials is essential to maximizing its therapeutic impact. The results form the basis for several recommendations for future research for the further examination of bibliotherapy features for children literature.
References
Adeyeye, S., & Oboh, O. (2022, July 18). ensuring emotional and psychological wellbeing in children through bibliotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Librarianship, 7(1), 56–65. https://doi.org/10.23974/ijol.2022.vol7.1.228
Akinola, A. N. (2014). Bibliotherapy as an alternative approach to children’s emotional disorders. Creative Education, 5, 1281-1285. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2014.514146
Altunbay, M. (2018, October 9). Using literature in bibliotherapy: Biography sampling. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(11), 201.
Amos, J., & Wisniewski, R. (1995). Life history and narrative. New York: Routledge.
Arizpe, E., & Styles, M. (2015). Children reading picturebooks: interpreting visual texts (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315683911
Bader, B. (1976). American picturebooks from Noah’s ark to the best within. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Bertrand, P., Guegan, J., Robieux, L., McCall, C. A. & Zenasni, F. (2018). Learning empathy through virtual reality: Multiple strategies for training empathy-related abilities using body ownership Illusions in embodied virtual reality. Front. Robot. AI 5:26 10.3389/frobt.2018.00026.
Bratitsis, T., & Ziannas, P. (2015). From early childhood to special education: Interactive digital storytelling as a coaching approach for fostering social empathy. Procedia Computer Science, 67, 231-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.09.267.
Chesson, D. (2023, May 22). The 5 elements of an unforgettable children’s book. WTD. https://writetodone.com/childrens-book/.
Children’s Bureau. (2023, May 11). The importance of reading to your children. Child Abuse Prevention, Treatment & Welfare Services. https://www.all4kids.org/news/blog/the-importance-of-reading-to-your-children/
Clandinin, J. & M. Connelly (1991). Narrative and story in practice and research; in D. Schön (Eds.). The reflective turn: Case studies in and on educational practice (258-281). New York: Teachers College Press.
Coleman, M., & Ganong, L. (1987). The cultural stereotyping of stepfamilies. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds), Remarriage and stepparenting: Current research and theory (pp19-41). New York: Guilford.
Domestika. (2023). Illustrating children’s books: The art of crafting engaging visual narratives. Amozika. https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/11145-illustrating-children-s-books-the-art-of-crafting-engaging-visual-narratives.
Ginsburg, K. (2022, December 16). Cognitive development: Thinking on new levels. Center for Parent and Teen Communication. https://parentandteen.com/adolescent-cognitive-development/
Glatch, S. (2023). What is the plot of a story? Writers.Com. https://writers.com/what-is-the-plot-of-a-story.
Goddard, A. (2011). Children's books for use in bibliotherapy. Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 25, 57-61. 10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.08.006.
Gómez, P., & Maker, J. (2011). What are the themes in young children’s stories? An analysis of the content of children’s written productions. Zbornik Instituta Za Pedagoska Istrazivanja, 43(1), 86–105. https://doi.org/10.2298/zipi1101086g.
Harits, I. & Chudy, S. (2017). Engaging the narrative on children literature through the teaching extensive reading. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal. 4, 26-33. 10.14738/assrj.43.2544.
Hynes, A.M. & Hynes-Berry, M. (1986). Bibliotherapy-The interactive process: A handbook. Taylors & Francis.
Ismail, H. M. (2023, March 2). Children’s literature: The significance and other impacts. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(3), 593–598. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1303.07
Ismail, A., Yusof, N. & Yunus, K. (2016). The readability of Malaysian English books: A multilevel analysis. International Journal of Applied Linguistic & English Literature. 5(6), pp. 214 – 220.
Jalongo, M. R. (1983). Bibliotherapy: Literature to promote socioemotional growth. Reading Teacher, 36(8), 796–803.
James, W. (n.d.). Cultivating empathy through literature: The role of reading in developing emotional intelligence. Issuu. https://issuu.com/wiliamjames/docs/cultivating_empathy_through_literature.docx/s/26673818.
Josselson, R. (2004). Healing plots. American Psychological Association.
Karges-Bone, L. (2015). Bibliotherapy: Children’s books that train the brain and jumpstart the heart. Lorenz Educational Press.
Lunn, J. (2003). The picture book: A commentary. In A. Hudson & S.A. Cooper (Eds.), Windows and words: A look at Canadian children’s literature in English (pp.185-190). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: University of Ottawa Press.
Nikolajeva, M. (2013). Picture books and emotional literacy. The Reading Teacher. 67. 10.1002/trtr.1229.
Nodelman, P. (1992). The pleasure of children‟s literature. 2nd. ed. Longman: New York.
Pulimeno, M., Piscitelli, P, & Colazzo, S. (2020). Children's literature to promote students' global development and wellbeing. Health Promotion Perspectives, 10(1):13-23. doi: 10.15171/hpp.2020.05. PMID: 32104653; PMCID: PMC7036210
Ree, H. (2012). Literary elements of children’s literature. http://hye-ree-park.blogspot.com/2012/08/literary-elements-of-childrens.html
Rozalski, M., Stewart, A., & Miller, J. (2010). Bibliotherapy: Helping Children Cope with Life’s Challenges. Record 47, 33.
Sipe, L.R. (1998). How picture books work: A semiotically framed theory of text-picture relationships, Children’s Literature in Education, 29(2), 97-108.
Strouse, G. A., Nyhout, A., & Ganea, P. A. (2018, February 6). The role of book features in young children’s transfer of information from picture books to real-world contexts. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00050.
Vahidi, S. (2018, January 24). A parent guide to helping children: Using bibliotherapy at home. The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (1990-2013). https://nrcgt.uconn.edu/newsletters/winter972/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rafidah Abdul Aziz, Wan Satirah Wan Mohd Saman, Norshila Shaifuddin, Salleh Mohd Radzi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright of articles that appear in the journal belongs exclusively to Faculty of Information Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA (Publisher). This copyright covers the rights to reproduce the article, including reprints, electronic reproductions or any other reproductions of similar nature.
