School of Education | Publications | Representation Matters: Adoption in Picturebooks

Representation Matters: Adoption in Picturebooks

Posted on May 27, 2026

student sitting on a bench with a laptop in hand
Here is moment captured of a student doing some homework out on a bench near Minerva on campus. This is Melissa Lozada, a UNCG Senior. Her hometown is Charlotte, NC

PUBLICATION SPOTLIGHT

Publication details

  • Contributor: Dr. Melody Zoch
  • Title: “Adoption Representation in Picturebooks: A Critical Content Analysis”
  • Publisher: English Teaching: Practice & Critique
headshot of melody zoch

About the contribution

This paper aims to share and examine four problematic patterns found in adoption-themed picturebooks: celebrations that oversimplify adoption’s complexity, narrow representations of family, prevalent whitewashing, and minimal attention to structural inequities.

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