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The contribution of children’s literature to the social-emotional development of children has been recognized across disciplines. Especially picture books, as multimodal texts which communicate with young readers with two codes simultaneously, can be a potential means of fostering empathy in young children (Nikolajeva, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the program “My BEST friends, the books,” an empirical project (in progress) based on a Book-Based Emotional Social Thinking approach.

This approach is inspired by the Critical Thinking and Book Time approach (Roche, 2010, 2015). The program, based on the scales and competences of the Βar-On (2006) model of social-emotional intelligence, explores the way young readers interpret social-emotional skills when discussing about literary characters in children’s picture books. This paper examines the philosophy, the main characteristics and structure of the program, and presents the first results of the pilot phase.

The initial findings indicate that the design and implementation of such a program is a complex procedure that requires from the researcher to take into consideration various aspects that concern both the material and the participants, but also to step back and let children express their thoughts freely.

Moreover, such discussions allow for understanding how preschoolers interpret the social-emotional skills of literary characters in a critical manner.

The playground is a commonly advised means to integrate children into the public realm of “child-friendly cities”, yet research has tended not to examine it in relation to adjacent public space. This paper aims to understand the extent to which the playground – a socio-spatial phenomenon – facilitates children's integration into the public realm, enabling critical examination of the “child-friendly space” concept.

An ethnographic study was carried out across three sites in Athens, Greece, where typical neighbourhood playgrounds replicate features common across the global north. Methods combined observation (167 h; morning, afternoon, evening), visual-mapping and 61 semi-structured interviews with 112 playground users (including adults and children from the playgrounds and surroundings). Rigorous qualitative thematic analysis, involving an iterative post-coding process, allowed identification of spatial patterns and emergent themes.

Findings reveal perceptions surrounding the protective and age-specific aspects of child-friendly design, limit the playgrounds' public value. However, a paradox emerges whereby the playgrounds' adjacency to public spaces designed without child-friendly principles affords children's engagement with the public realm.

Reconceptualisation of the “child-friendly playground” is proposed, embracing interdependence with the public realm – highly significant for child-friendly urban design theory and practice globally. Researchers are encouraged to compare findings in other geographical contexts.

This original finding is enabled by the novel approach to studying the playground in relation to adjacent public realm. The study also offers the first empirical examination of child-friendly city principles – participation in social life and urban play – in a Greek context, addressing a geographical gap in literature on children's everyday spaces.

This paper aims to shed light on how children's literature in Africa deserves to be studied because African writers “decolonize” the minds of African children and children and adults around the world.

This paper defines children's literature from an African perspective and the “decolonization of the mind.” This is done to examine how two African writers provide narratives for children inspired by their cultures. They deal with themes, characters and symbols that interest children and adults.

Achebe and Youssef crossed many borders: the world of children and adults, animals and humans, vice and virtue, supernatural and real. Their stories take the reader on journeys that involve enriching, engaging and inspiring adventures.

Youssef and Achebe are prolific writers. Providing a survey of what is available in Arabic and Nigerian literature for children, is beyond the scope of this paper.

This paper sends a message to those in charge of the curriculum in schools in Egypt, the Arab countries, Africa and the world at large: decolonize the syllabi in schools because the world is not black and white. Literature for children that encourages critical thinking is available by African writers in Egypt, Nigeria and elsewhere.

The works discussed show that African writers are creative, and their works inspire the African child with pride in his/her identity, culture and heritage.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, no one has compared Egyptian and Nigerian literature for children before. Youssef and Achebe provide evidence that “Good literature gives the child a place in the world … and the world a place in the child.” – Astrid Lindgren.

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors affecting the development of brand attitudes and brand behavior among children aged seven to 12.

The study involved a literature review investigating the theoretical models underlying studies of brand attitude development among children and empirical studies of brand attitude development, and an empirical study using a questionnaire administered to a sample of 221 Cypriot children.

Cypriot children are found to have high awareness of internationally famous brands. The principal influences on children's brand attitudes are older siblings, parents, and close friends. Brand attitudes are the principal influence on brand behavior (brand requesting and brand buying). Age is found to be an important factor affecting brand buying decisions, with older children more likely than younger children to buy brands.

Generalization of the results beyond the population from which the sample was drawn should be undertaken with caution. Further research in geographically and culturally close regions would extend this research.

Cognitive development is very rapid in this age group, and marketers should segment for age. Younger children are more influenced by intra-family socialization factors, older children more by extra-family socialization factors.

The study investigated the relatively under-explored pre-teen age group, and examined children across a sufficiently wide age range to encompass different stages in models of child cognitive development. The research context (a Mediterranean country) is also original.

At a European level, despite the numerous policies developed in relation to the inclusion of Roma, Roma continue to be discriminated. With regard to education, Roma children remain among the lowest academic achievers in all European countries and the same is reported in Greece. This chapter discusses aspects of life for Roma living in Greece, with an emphasis on education: first, it details aspects of Greek Roma’s social and cultural life; second it focuses on Greek Roma’s education (educational situation, policies and supportive programmes for Roma children); third, it presents studies which have started to examine contexts where the Greek Roma have experienced some educational progression against the odds.

During the Great Recession, the increase in Greece's unemployment rate was the highest in the European Union (EU). However, there exists no multi-variate study which has assessed the association between parental unemployment and adolescents' grades. The present study aimed to examine whether parental unemployment is associated with deterioration in adolescents' grades during periods of economic decline.

The study utilised panel data from the same upper high schools in the periods 2011–2013 and 2017–2019 to assess whether the grades of adolescents were associated with parental unemployment. A variety of empirical specifications and robustness tests were employed to offer better informed evaluations.

The exogeneity of parental unemployment with respect to adolescents' grade was confirmed. The analysis revealed that parental unemployment was associated with a decline in adolescents' grades. Periods of economic decline, i.e. in 2011–2013, were found to be associated with deterioration in adolescents' grades. Moreover, during periods of economic decline, parental unemployment was associated with deterioration in adolescents' grades. Furthermore, parental unemployment was associated with lower adolescents' grades for those households that were not homeowners and whose schools were located in working-class areas. The outcomes were found to be robust, even after including information for government expenditure on education and social protection.

This is the first Greek study, and amongst the first international studies, to evaluate whether parental unemployment can lead to a deterioration in adolescents' grades during an economic decline. The potential long-lasting effects of parental unemployment on children's human capital should be considered by policymakers, as should educational interventions to support households experiencing adverse economic conditions.

This paper aims to examine how ambivalence and intergenerational support intersect with consumption in experiences of sharing within the family.

Consumer research studies usually use one of two family paradigms (i.e. solidarity and conflict), but the role of ambivalence in family ties is often neglected. This paper examines how ambivalence relates to adult intergenerational support, specifically within the context of sharing, consumption and family identity. In contrast to consumer research studies, sociological studies identify the intersection between intergenerational ambivalence and intergenerational support within family life. This study draws on sociology literature to interpret data from phenomenological interviews with downwardly mobile Greek consumers involved in familial intergenerational support and sharing. The voices of adult recipients and providers of resources are captured, and the transcribed interview texts are analysed using a phenomenological-hermeneutical process.

Three types of consumer ambivalence were identified that reflected different types of conflicts between consumption choices and different levels of family identity (collective, relational and individual).

Future research should explore ambivalence and family sharing in different family structures and during different transitions. Future research should also investigate how this study’s findings resonate in societies less affected by austerity measures with stronger welfare states that nevertheless experience a rise in intergenerational support.

The study problematises previously somewhat polarised (i.e. positive vs bleak) views of the family in consumer research. Family sharing is highlighted as a major antecedent to consumer ambivalence, and different types of consumer ambivalence within intergenerational relationships within families are conceptualised. This paper proposes an extended typology of coping strategies aligned along a practical–emotional continuum.

Immigrants are a part of America’s founding and history. Until this study, it was unclear how immigrants have been historically portrayed in youth American trade books. Utilizing a discourse analysis approach, this study offered a critical and comparative examination of the portrayal of first-generation immigrants, the authors’ perspectives, and the historical evolution of American trade books written during two peak United States immigration eras (1880-1930s and 1980-2010s). After examining 98 books written over 100 years, findings indicated in both peak immigration eras, immigrants faced similar problems; first-generation immigrants were insensitively criticized and viewed as subpar individuals by Americans. As a whole, books were mostly tales of assimilation and mistreatment in the United States. Since youths’ ideas of people and cultural groups are formed by what they learn from not only social interaction but also the media, it is important for books to provide meaningful representations of immigrants.

This study aims to investigate the effects of the use of symbols in the development of young children's ability to form questions in mainstream early‐childhood education. Hypotheses examined whether the use of graphic symbols help 3. 5‐5 year‐old students to increase the number of questions and the number of words in the questions asked for a particular subject.

Following an experimental design approach, an experimental (EG) and a control group (CG) of children, matched to age (4:2) and to their ability to make questions (pre‐test), attended an instructional programme. The EG used Widgit Symbols and the CG the traditional methods used by educators to teach questioning. Data collection involved pre and post oral assessment tests, which measured the number of questions and the length of questions in role play activities.

Findings of the study showed that symbols have positively affected children's ability to make questions. The EG scored higher than the CG on variables examined, and the within groups improvement (pre to post test) was again higher for the EG.

The paper discusses some possibilities of a lengthier implementation of the use of symbols and their effect on language acquisition.

The study raises some considerations about the development of new teaching methodologies with the use of symbols and Information Communication Technology to enhance language development and maximize learning for all learners.

Usually emphasis is placed on the use of symbols as a means of assistive technology (AT) for the accommodation of the needs of children with disabilities. This paper is an effort to cover a gap in literature and emphasize on the benefits of AT in general learning environments for all children.