Anna Karlskov Skyggebjerg

Poetic Constructions of Nature: The Forest in Recent Visual Poetry for Children

Skyggebjerg in this chapter offers an introduction and a textual analysis of recent visual poetry for children in the light of ecocriticism. The analysis is concentrated on the visual and verbal expressions about the forest, and the chapter shows how knowledge about a particular part of nature is depicted in a poetic language with ludic metaphors and references to both scientific and fictional spheres. The theoretical background for the textual analysis includes an ecocritical view with a broad orientation towards art and cultural products in general, and children’s literature is used as an example of this attitude. Following the perspectives of ecocriticism, the chapter also includes a discussion about the potential contribution of children’s literature to young readers’ understanding of, and sense of responsibility for, nature.