Perry Starlight, Ali Orbit and Kim Cosmos' alien encounter: creating a picturebook as information for children and parents participating in research

This study explored whether the creation of an illustrated picturebook could explain the terms and practicalities of participatory, multi-method qualitative research to children aged four to eight years and their parents/carers, creating conditions to seek agreement to their participation, by using an age-appropriate design whilst adhering to ethical guidelines. The purpose of this paper is to explore how this was done addressing these issues.

Drawing on the researcher's previous professional experience working in children's publishing and taking an innovative and collaborative approach to giving information to child and parent/carer co-researchers, the researcher and an illustrator created a picturebook both as an eBook and a paperback book to recruit and explain research and co-researchers’ roles to young children and their parents/carers.

The picturebook successfully recruited 30 children and their parents/carers. Other children expressed their wish not to participate. These findings suggest that greater consideration should be given to the ways information is given to potential research participants, particularly the visual, material and paratextual elements of the information sheets and consent forms routinely used in research.

This paper offers insight into the publishing practicalities of creating innovative ways of giving information about research participation to children and parents/carers and how these ways might foster rich data collection.