What a picturebook can do. Shared reading practices and self-reconstruction with homeless adults and social workers

Abstract

In recent decades, children’s literature has been recognised as a symbolic repertoire capable of accompanying individuals throughout life, supporting lifelong learning, identity reconstruction, and social participation. This article presents the results of a qualitative, ethnographically oriented study conducted at a first reception centre in the province of Rome, which investigated the use of picturebooks during a series of shared reading workshops involving both homeless adults and social workers. Data analysis highlights how the picturebook functions as a “third space,” enabling indirect self-expression and temporarily suspending institutional role asymmetries, while fostering mutual recognition and co-construction of meaning. The study contributes to the pedagogical debate on the use of picturebooks as a transformative educational practice in contexts of adult marginality.