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PLAYFULNESS IN E-PICTUREBOOKS: HOW THE ELEMENT OF PLAY MANIFESTS IN TRANSMEDIATED AND BORN-DIGITAL PICTUREBOOK APPS by Aline Frederico B.A., Universidade de São Paulo, 2005 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Children’s Literature) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) May 2014 © Aline Frederico, 2014 Abstract This thesis analyzes how playfulness is expressed in eight picturebook apps available for the iPad, four of them being born-digital picturebook apps and the other four picturebooks being transmediated into apps from print counterparts. These works of digital literature, aimed at children between 3 and 8 years old, underwent a close reading through the lenses of social semiotics, as presented by Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen, and its manifestation in picturebook theory, as presented by David Lewis’ ecology of the picturebook. Playfulness was analyzed according to the three categories proposed by Nikolajeva: through the interanimation among modes, through metafiction and through performance–implicit and explicit. One born- digital and one transmediated app was selected among a sample of 100 picturebook apps as quintessential examples of that type of playfulness, although all apps manifested on different levels all kinds of playfulness. The multimodal analysis of these picturebook apps revealed that each app is unique in the way modes both individually and in combination work as a multimodal text in expressing playfulness. The different modes may work in counterpoint to generate irony, or they may complement each other building signs that are ironic in contrast with other signs inside the narrative. The inclusion of interactivity makes possible new combinations of modes that integrate reader inputs and various forms of participation. Participation is an important element in the construction of metafiction since, as interactive narratives, most texts manifest an overt recognition of the reader as a participant. The differences between born-digital and transmediated apps are subtle, but this sample suggested that the counterpart among modes is used as a playful resource more significantly in transmediated apps, while the born-digital apps count more on interactivity and performance to ii generate playfulness. Half of the transmediated apps manifested covert metafiction, while all of the born-digital texts manifested overt metafiction. Finally, in terms of performance, the born- digital apps showed highly theatricalized participation of the reader and also promoted reader participation in co-authoring, which was not seen in the transmediated apps. iii Preface This dissertation is an original intellectual product of the author, A. Frederico. The selection of the primary texts was based on a collection of 100 picturebook apps, organized by E. Zaminpaima and myself as part of the research project The Future of Children’s Texts, coordinated by Dr. E. Meyers. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................. ii Preface .................................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................v List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. xii Dedication........................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Origins of my interest ........................................................................................... 1 1.3 Topic statement .................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................... 3 1.5 Relevance of this study ......................................................................................... 4 1.6 Constructs: from picturebook to picturebook app ................................................ 6 1.7 Summary ............................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2: Literature Review ...................................................................................... 15 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Picturebook theory.............................................................................................. 15 2.3 Playfulness and the picturebook ......................................................................... 25 2.4 Multimodality and children’s literature .............................................................. 36 2.5 Summary ............................................................................................................ 56 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................... 57 v 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 57 3.2 Theoretical framework ....................................................................................... 57 3.3 Rationale for selection of primary texts ............................................................. 60 3.4 Close reading of digital texts .............................................................................. 64 3.5 Summary ............................................................................................................ 66 Chapter 4: Findings: Close Readings of Eight Picturebook Apps ............................ 67 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 67 4.2 What Does My Teddy Bear Do All Day? by Bruno Hächler and Birte Müller .. 67 4.3 Lil’ Red by Bart Blocmen and Brian Main ......................................................... 75 4.4 The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin ......... 82 4.5 Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Mo Willems and You .......................... 88 4.6 The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers ........................................................ 94 4.7 The Three Little Pigs by Nosy Crow ................................................................ 101 4.8 The Trip - Little Critter Reading Adventure by Mercer Mayer ........................ 109 4.9 Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow ............................................................ 114 4.10 Summary ........................................................................................................ 121 Chapter 5: Discussion: Playfulness in Picturebook Apps ........................................ 122 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 122 5.2 Playfulness through the interanimation among modes ..................................... 122 5.3 Playfulness through metafiction ....................................................................... 138 5.4 Playfulness through performance ..................................................................... 150 5.5 How this discussion addresses my research questions ..................................... 169 5.6 Summary .......................................................................................................... 171 vi Chapter 6: Conclusion ................................................................................................ 173 6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 173 6.2 Research contributions ..................................................................................... 173 6.3 Contributions to the design of picturebook apps .............................................. 175 6.4 Implications for the mediators of children’s literature ..................................... 178 6.5 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 181 6.6 Recommendations for future research .............................................................. 182 6.7 Summary .......................................................................................................... 184 References ..........................................................................................................................185 Primary texts .............................................................................................................. 185 Secondary texts .........................................................................................................