USA Today - Researchers at several universities reviewed about 8,100 images in 296 children's books. The books were all Caldecott Medalwinners and honorees from 1938 to 2008. The Caldecott awards are given annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
Researchers categorized images as containing either a natural environment, such as a jungle or forest; a built environment, such as a house, school or office; or a modified environment, such as a mowed lawn, park or farm field. They also identified wild and domestic animals. The findings, published in February's Sociological Inquiry:
•Early in the study period, built environments were the primary environments in about 35% of images. By the end of the study, they were primary environments about 55% of the time.
•Early in the study, natural environments were the primary environments about 40% of the time; by the end, the figure was roughly 25%.
Images of wild animals and domestic animals declined dramatically over time, says lead author Al Williams of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: "The natural environment and wild animals have all but disappeared in these books."
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