| This dissertation is a study of representation found in the Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) program. The TBA is the state children's choice book award created by the Texas Library Association in 1981. Conducting a content analysis of the 22 years of books nominated for the Award's Master Lists, I investigated the types of representation presented in award-winning children's literature. I also investigated the selection process by working with four of the TBA Selection Committee Members. I interviewed each of the four Selection Committee Members about their perceptions of award-winning children's literature, as well as their roles as members of the Committee.; Using the Library of Congress Subject Headings, I categorized the books by genre, age, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, religion, handicapping condition, family circumstance, sex role, and race. Then, using Banks' (2002) Criteria for Analyzing Children's Books, I examined the books for problems such as stereotyping or words that would present a biased message about particular living situations to a young reader. Analysis of the text set of the TBA books showed a lack of diversity in all categories except gender.; Through analysis of the Selection Committee Members, I constructed four central themes: Conversations, Representation, Member Thought Process, and Effects of Membership. Further analysis of these data revealed that selection committee members constructed narrow definitions of the criteria for award-winning children's literature, relying heavily on literary elements rather than on consideration of story content or issues of representation. As a result, the choices of books to place on the Master List reflect selections did not reflect the life stories of the multiple cultures represented in Texas or those cultures' children.; Challenging the idea that award-winning children's literature should extend beyond literary guidelines to embrace the representative lives of the children who read it is one of the implications of this investigation that needs further studying. |
