Abstract:

The children’s books that take their subject, heroes or fiction from religious content, can be classified as children’s religious books. Unlike the other children’s books, these books that include educational and instructional aspects, they provide significant contribution to their religious development besides affective, personal and social development of children. When the cognitive, affective, social, moral and religious levels of the target children are taken into consideration, it has great importance that the children’s religious books are prepared considering the development level of children and especially the process of their religious development. Far from supporting their religious development, to see these books as a means by which religious content is conveyed directly to the child can cause permanent negative effect on children’s world. By the reason of the differences in features of religious development of all ages, changes in religious interest and needs is also important for the children’s religious books How should a religious subject that includes lots of abstract concept be given to a child? What is the religious interest and need of the child? Is it different depending on the age? How should be the religious language especially in the children’s books that are language product? It is unlikely to answer all these questions without knowing religious development of children. In this context, it is very important for children’s books that include religious content to be prepared considering the religious development field. In this study, the children’s books about the Prophet Mohammad has been assessed by content analysis method that is one of the qualitative research methods and it has been handled whether the content of the books are appropriate for religious development of children. As a result, it is deduced that the children’s books prepared in this regard have been prepared without being taken into consideration the religious development level of children and they have been prepared for adults and with adult’s viewpoint.

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