Who Am I? Why Am I Here? and Where Do I Come From? Responding to Philosophical Picturebooks

This article gives a brief overview of reader response theory before sharing the views of some nine-year-old children working collaboratively as part of a community of readers. Prior to responding to some philosophical picturebooks the children talked about what they thought philosophy was, they then shared their thoughts on some of the very questions of existence to include: Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? and Where will I go to? Their initial thoughts and responses were followed by detailed reading, thinking and responding to one specific picturebook, "Die Schopfung" ("The Creation") by F. K. Waechter.