Bibliotherapy for pre-school children: a case study

Abstract

The present research aimed at identifying the benefits of bibliotherapy for preschool children at the Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem Educational Center, and also to carry out ludic activities that provide children with moments of leisure, thus promoting catharsis, stimulating creativity, encouraging reading, and putting children in contact with different types of texts that instigate their imaginary. Thirteen meetings and storytelling activities were conducted with twenty-two children. A qualitative approach was chosen for the analysis of what, first envisaged as an exploratory study, became a case study. Data collection was done through participative observation, and all activities and children’s reactions were reported. An analysis of the meetings was later carried out in order to determine which goals had been accomplished as well as which obstacles were found as research was in progress. The results obtained lead us to conclude that librarians, working in partnership with other professionals, can actively participate in socio-cultural activities, contributing to the formation of readers that will be capable to transform their contexts and improve their life quality.