Examination of Curiosity Elements in Fictional Children's Books

The study, which was carried out to determine the elements of curiosity in fictional children's\rbooks, was designed with a document analysis pattern. The data of the research was created on the basis of\rthe 10 best-selling fictional children's books in Turkey. These books were determined according to the sales\rdata of 12 different websites. Descriptive and content analysis techniques were used together to determine\rhow the element of curiosity is handled in the children's books that constitute the data of the research. The\relements of curiosity determined in this framework: It was coded and classified according to the type,\rmethod of removal, the people contacted during this process, and the factors observed at the end. As a result\rof the study, it was concluded that the books did not reflect the sense of curiosity in a qualified way, it was\rdetermined that ordinary, excitement and mystery types of curiosity came to the fore, while academic\rcuriosities remained in the background. In addition, in the study, it was determined that men were more\rcurious than women, and women had unqualified curiosities. Another issue in the books examined is the\rmethods used by the characters in the process of satisfying their curiosity. The characters satisfy their\rcuriosity by asking others the most, then they seek answers to their curiosity by doing personal research,\rasking experts/knowledgeable people or following various printed/electronic sources. One of the important\rissues in the books examined is the results that emerge from the curiosity. In the books, the characters gain\rthe most information as a result of their curiosity and give emotional reactions. As a result, it has been\rlearned that different and rational methods were not presented in the books to eliminate the sense of curiosity\rand that the sense of curiosity that will encourage children to discover something is very weak.