Telling the World: Adults as Intermediaries in Reading Contemporary Children’s Literature

Abstract

The aim of the article is to describe the contemporary function and role of an adult reader as a mediator in a young child’s contact with a book. The specificity of children’s literature in the context of literary communication and contemporary education was discussed. It shows what competencies are required from an adult to read picture books and stories about difficult situations in a child’s life together with a child. Selected literary examples illustrate that books for the youngest require joint dialogical reading, and the adult most often assumes the function of a translator of difficult words, the depicted world, as well as the cultural, social, or political context. The article is of a review nature, the clues collected in it indicate the need for conscious and competent mediation in contemporary children’s reading by teachers, parents, and other adult participants of literary education.