The Depictions of Fathers and Children in Best-Selling Picture Books in the United States: A Hybrid Semiotic Analysis

Abstract

This research examines the presence and depictions of fathers in best-selling picture books in the U.S. using a hybrid semiotic approach. In 200 best-selling picture books for children, among those featuring only a father or only a mother, fathers are featured as prominent as a parent in fewer books (n = 4) than mothers (n = 10). The semiotic analysis of the images and text in two selected picture books reveals connotations related to the roles of fathers as masculine, protective, nurturing, and playful, and the conceptualization of children as naive, vulnerable, and playful. Further illuminations from the texts are of indexical signs and second-order symbols related to the father’s association with night and in particular the moon.