The Pedagogical Dimensions of Food in Children's Literature

The paradigm of Greek children's literature

Abstract

Children's literature is linked with pedagogy and it has often been characterized by an either direct or indirect didactic style. Food in fiction is an example of didacticism as it seems to go beyond its nutritional role, carrying pedagogical and didactic messages. In this paper we approach food and eating habits in children's books, with an emphasis on Greek children’s books. The purpose of this study is to highlight the pedagogical function of food in fiction as well as to examine to what extent changes in human eating habits at the end of the 20th and in the early 21st century affected the gastronomic references in children's books of this period. Indeed, according to the findings, the context in which children's books are published appears to have a great influence on the way in which fictional food is approached. Consequently, gluttony may generally seem to be reprehensible in Greek fiction, but the changes in diet formed a new stream of children’s books exclusively on healthy eating.