Bakom den leende masken : Sårbart modrande i samtida bilderböcker om surrogatmödraskap och sjukdom

Children and adults, the dual audience of picturebooks, are joinedin the act of reading aloud. For many parents, reading to their child con-stitutes one of the basic, intimate care practices of mothering (Rich; Holm).In this study, we examine picturebooks about surrogacy and about moth-ering parents who are mentally or physically ill, published in Sweden inthe period between 2010 and 2022. Both types of books depict a vulnera-bility in relation to parenthood, motherhood and mothering and are oftenautobiographical and niche- or self-published. With an analytical approachgrounded in critical theories of adult agency in children’s literature (Rose;Nodelman; Beauvais), we find that both picturebooks about surrogacy andillness communicate straightforward and often sentimental messages tothe child reader, whereas more complex and possibly problematic adult de-sires and needs can be detected on the level of the adult address. Throughthe projected child perspective (Rhedin), our material offers the vulnerableadult reader representation and recognition in relation to a motherhood/mothering that is not unequivocally considered sufficient or legitimate.The traditional aesthetics and pedagogical use-value of the picturebook aswell as the positive maternal associations to reading aloud, are essential inthis legitimization process. Meanwhile, the implied child reader functionsas a projection surface for adult wishes of normalcy and happy endings.Although hidden behind adult projections, it is this “mighty” child(Beauvais) who ultimately has the power to acknowledge and justify theparents in an impending future which reaches beyond the control of bothadult writer and implied adult reader.