A Sense of Place

A Critical Mapping of the Geographical Locations in Children’s Climate Change Books Written in and Translated into Dutch

Abstract

Starting from the observation that anthropogenic climate change manifests differently across geographical locations, this article argues that it is critical to examine the spatial representation of climate change in books for young readers. Such an examination necessarily navigates the global reach of climate change and the localised experiences of climate change around the world. We use a mixed method of close and distant reading to facilitate this navigation to study a corpus of climate change books for young readers that includes books written in and books translated into Dutch. We first zoom out, by creating maps of the geographic locations that are evoked in both sets of works. Then we zoom in, using a critical analysis of those areas that are indicated as significant by our visualisations. By mapping the geographical representation of climate change in works written in and translated into Dutch, we can better understand how the spatiality of climate change is presented to young readers and how these readers are encouraged to position themselves and others in this global crisis.