Figurative Language Development Research and Popular Children's Literature: Why We Should Know, "Where the Wild Things Are"

Concerns have arisen recently over the ecological validity of materials used to study children's figurative language comprehension abilities. Materials commonly used in studies that evaluate children's comprehension of metaphorical language, for instance, are not as frequently found in popular children's literature (Broderick, 1992). In the following study, we first present arguments against the basis for this concern over ecological validity, but then we maintain for other important reasons that language development researchers should nevertheless have knowledge of the figurative language content of the popular children's literature. We then present a quantitative metaphorical-content analysis of the popular children's literature across historical, genre, and audience-age variables. We discuss the findings as important for understanding (a) whether the figurative language comprehension abilities of young children are still being underestimated, (b) the contextual backdrop that the popular children's literature provides for language development, and (c) potential opportunity costs of a literature that might be out of sync with children's comprehension.