The article focuses on the role, place and relationship nature has in a life of a contemporary human being, also in the context of childhood. The syndrome of deficit in contact with nature, which affects and concerns all of us, was clearly indicated in the world’s literature on the subject. The topic of threats to the use of technical devices such as tablets, computers, smartphones and their role in how children spend their free time was also discussed. The text asks the question if man’s rediscovery of the Earth in the context of childhood and our relationship with nature is necessary?

The author of this article reflects on the need for an environmental discourse within the Polish language school education. She begins with outlining the main assumptions and problems of the Anthropocene, basing on the philosophical ideas of Ewa Domańska, Julia Fiedorczuk, and selected concepts from Rosi Braidotti. The starting point for considerations regarding a critical view of anthropocentrically-oriented pedagogy is the publication of Maksymilian Chutorański, Nie(tylko)-ludzkie wymiary edukacji: W stronę pedagogiki nieantropocentrycznej [(Non-(merely)human) Dimensions of Education: Towards Non-Anthropocentric Pedagogy)]. Also, the ideas for enriching Polish literature lessons with the poems of Urszula Zajączkowska are presented. These poems allow for the expansion of students’ interpretative skills to include a socio-nature-cultural perspective in a synchronous approach. The article argues that the main challenge for a Polish literature teacher in the 21st century is to implement methods that sensitize students to the phenomenon of human existence within a symbiotic and multi-species community. The primary objective of this work is to highlight the need to break away from the division into nature and culture rooted in collective
thinking as dichotomous and mutually opposing elements. The article aims to draw attention to the fact that these phenomena are inseparable and that humans, as conscious beings, act as a bridge between these two spheres.

This article concentrates on the concept of landscape, which, according to Nina Goga’s findings, together with language, defines the place where protagonists establish deep relationships with nature within a local ecosystem. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the concept of landscape relates to the issue of listening to the biological language of nature, focusing primarily on the imagery of the forest in Scandinavian children’s literature.

 Emilia Kiereś’s prose strongly reflects the changes in the way of presenting nature that have taken place in children’s literature. The writer shows nature in a romantic, fairy-tale or eco-realist convention, triggering the ideas of eco-philosophy and inscribing them into the current of ecological humanism. The most interesting realization of eco-philosophical ideas is found in the novels that make up the Tin Series: Srebrny dzwoneczek [A Silver Bell] (2010), Złota gwiazdka [A Gold Star] (2018), Miedziany Listek [A Copper Leaf] (2019), and Cynowy rycerzyk [A Tin Knight] (2022). Their characters live leaning towards nature, which is waiting for them just outside their window, offering the attractions of the garden and the forest. Working and playing in the garden, trips to the forest and contacting animals allow them to experience harmony, which facilitates interpersonal contacts and relationships with other beings and promotes sharing of the world.

The reality of excess that we have treated ourselves to is very productive, mainly in terms of the production of garbage, waste and all kinds of by-products that the so-called progress of civilisation entails. Today, we are frantically looking for responsible solutions that will enable sensible disposal and well-thought-out waste management. The article asks the question on what we can do about such an elusive matter as the junk audio space…? The audiosphere is the most democratic area and independent of social status. Sound waves spread, just like the air we breathe, which is why audio pollution issues that infect our common space require to be urgently renegotiated. The article is a kind of recorded impression from children’s literature focused on the topic of sounds and artistic activities addressed to young people, taking up the themes of education in the field of audio culture, sensory experiences and stimulation of our sensitivity in this area.

The article is devoted to the analysis of children’s and youth’s narratives, the topic of which is the vision of Poland’s earthly future (in 2050). Coincidentally, the time limit determined by the topic of the competition for children coincided with the one included in the report by Jørgen Randers, who deals with forecasting the world’s future, i.e. the vision of the climate crisis in the background. The analysis involved the ecological aspects of the narrative – eco-images, such as nature protection, taking care of slowing down the pace of climate change, the environment, and sustainable development. Also, the appropriateness of the steps/omissions towards the environment that the young authors included in the created/speculated eco-images of Polish spaces was discussed.

The paper focuses on the communication of ecological or environmental issues through a specific form of popular songs. The research sample consists mainly of songs for children, but there are also songs for young people. For comparison, we have also included a song primarily intended for adults in the corpus. Several songs are also part of smaller musicals that support the content with scenic components and frequently with movement artistic means (dance). As a result, visualisation becomes an important accompanying component of the ‘sonically realised’ genre on the way to apperception and positive reception by the listener/viewer. The purpose of this paper is to provide answers to the following questions: What characteristics/signs define eco-song? What environmental or ecological issues do Slovak eco-songs address? The samples are subjected to linguistic-stylistic and pragmatic analysis regarding the presentation of dominant textual and extra-textual factors. The mapping of the situation also outlines the communicative potential of this accessible song genre.

Jan Zdunik discusses psychoanalytic theories of development put forth by D. W. Winnicott and W. R. Bion and enquires whether it is possible to use psychoanalytic insights in the development of the methodology of Polish, and in particular in redefining the methods of teaching Polish literature. For this purpose, Zdunik introduces four concepts: holding, reverie, potential space, and mirroring. When critically examining the most important approaches to the methodology of Polish, he suggests broadening its scope by including the insights of British psychoanalysts. Next, he puts forth some practical guidelines for teachers and points to methods that could be useful in Polish literature lessons. In the conclusions, Zdunik considers the possibilities of making changes in the existing methodology and the scope of their implementation.

In her article, Wiktoria Krawczyk addresses the need to include in Polish lessons texts written for young readers which are devoted to the extermination of the Jewish population. An in-depth analysis of the development of Polish language teaching programs for primary schools (and for junior high schools before the 2019 reform) shows lack of references to the Holocaust in the school environment. The goal of the series of lessons proposed in this article, designed to prepare students to read and interpret Listy w butelce [Letters in a Bottle], is partially to fill this gap in the current core curriculum. This proposal has been designed with the help of innovative tools, including routines of critical thinking (“I perceive/I think/I reflect,” “kawusia” [a little coffee], “winda” [an elevator], and “Most1” [Bridge1]), the collage technique, Robert Plutchik’s diagram of emotions, the app Mentimeter, the educational film, Karen Shawn’s method of silent conversation, and sketchnoting.

The article discusses Emilia Kiereś’s tetralogy addressed to children of younger school age, touching on difficult problems related to getting to know the world and other people. In four volumes (Srebrny dzwoneczek [A Silver Bell], Złota gwiazdka [A Golden Star], Miedziany Listek [A Copper Leaf], Cynowy rycerzyk [A Tin Knight]) the writer shows a child’s vision of the world, joys and sorrows, fears that are difficult to understand, good and bad emotions. Everything that happens in the human family has been inscribed in the variability of the seasons and the very painterly colors of space. Małgorzata Musierowicz’s illustrations add beauty to the books.

In this review, Marta Nadolna considers the positive and negative aspects of Dominik Borowski’s book Między dzieciństwem a dorosłością. O polskich powieściach dla młodzieży w pierwszym dwudziestoleciu XXI wieku [Between Childhood and Adulthood. On Polish Novels for Young Readers in the First Two Decades of the 21st Century], in which Borowski examines how fiction addressed to young readers has changed in the last two decades. Nadolna looks at the advantages and disadvantages of this publication, while citing noteworthy novels for young readerscurrently available on th e publishing market. At the same time, she also examines the themes that this fiction addresses related to civilizational changes and issues of a dysfunctional world, those outlined by Borowski and those ignored by him, also in terms of the amount of concern bestowed on them in the book. Nadolna concludes her review on a positive note, finding Borowski’s book to be reliable as well as amply repaying the reader’s attention.

The subject of the analysis is a collection of poems by Wanda Chotomska included in the volume Siedem księżyców [Seven Moons]. The book was published for the first and only time in 1970. As the title suggests, the collection contains seven poems devoted to one topic: the moon. Chotomska presents him as a person who has his own emotions and is constantly in motion. The atmospheric poems are also accompanied by atmospheric illustrations. Their author is the outstanding artist Józef Wilkoń. The volume is a manifestation of extraordinary unity of word and image. Noteworthy is the colour scheme of the illustrations, which are dominated by black and gold. In the conclusion of the article, the author suggests that it is worth reissuing this original collection.