The use of graded reading series at a primary school in Mato Grosso do Sul: consolidating the reading processes in school

Abstract

This study analyzes two reading sets (named Vamos Estudar? and Vamos Sorrir?) used in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, between the 1960s and 1970s, aiming to examine the specificity of these materials in the consolidation of the reading processes, within Brazil’s educational scene and within the aforementioned state’s circulation. A qualitative document research was carried out, in which two reading series used in the region during the period indicated were examined under the theoretical assumptions of the story of the book and of reading itself. The results point out that, by adopting a stimulating discourse of study (in the case of Vamos Estudar?) and a discourse of joy (in the case of Vamos Sorrir?), both manage to represent primary schooling, literacy and the substance of childhood, constitutive of this practice in their time. Furthermore, the texts in the materials have contributed to the construction of an identity that aimed at educating a good son, a good student and, in the future, a good citizen.