Carrie Anne Thomas, doctoral candidate, Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education and Human Ecology, has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to research "Engagement with Diverse Picturebooks in Israel" at Oranim Academic College of Education. From April 2025-December 2026, Thomas will investigate the intrapersonal and interpersonal cultural and linguistic connections that diverse students in Israel make when engaging with culturally and linguistically diverse picturebooks during a researcher-led book club.
“The main educational goal of this qualitative inquiry is to create a book club with young students in Israel, facilitating their engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse picturebooks,” Thomas explains. “The main research goal is to empirically document the actual impact and influence of diverse books on students’ own intrapersonal and interpersonal understandings of cultural and linguistic differences.”
This research project builds on the common metaphor within the field of children’s literature that diverse books can serve as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors.
This metaphor was popularized by Ohio State professor emerita Rudine Sims Bishop. She stated, “When there are enough books available that can act as both mirrors and windows for all our children, they will see that we can celebrate both our differences and our similarities, because together they are what makes us all human.”
Fulbright Program
For more information about the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, visit fulbright.osu.edu or contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser.