Exploring child-nature-city relations through ecocritical readings of a diverse environmental picturebook

Purpose Children’s literature often depicts cities as crowded, manmade spaces devoid of nature. This paper aims to critically explore child-nature-city relations through pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) and children’s readings of the diverse environmental picturebook Jayden’s Impossible Garden (Mangal, 2021). Design/methodology/approach Using multiple case analysis (Yin, 2009), this study examines PSTs’ and children’s responses to the picturebook in two urban settings: a large Midwestern and a large Northeastern city. Findings In Case 1, PSTs viewed cultivating nature as communal care and agency, engaged in structural critiques of access and spatial injustice, and chose this diverse environmental text for its relevance to their students’ lives. In Case 2, children made environmental and linguistic connections, emphasized their personal relationships with urban nature, and created and cared for nature. A cross-case analysis compares three themes: adult vs. child-centered perspectives, imagined vs. realized agency, and human-centered vs. more-than-human representation. Originality/value This paper demonstrates how ecocritical readings of diverse picturebooks can support critical engagement with children, nature, and cities. The cases underscore the value of listening to children’s observations of urban nature, fostering collective, enacted agency, and broadening definitions of diverse texts to include place and environment.