Can a Narrative Framework Effectively Communicate Climate and Weather Concepts?

An ongoing project by the lead author has investigated weather and climate events in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The framework of Wilder's stories has been used in multiple venues to raise interest in topics such as weather safety and climate change, and it has been presented to the weather and climate professionals as an example of using a narrative that captures an audience as a bridge to discussing difficult and sometimes controversial weather and climate topics. But the difficult question remains: Does it work? Using a series of surveys, this study will begin to quantify the effectiveness of the Laura Ingalls Wilder narrative on interest and engagement in climate-related topics and basic climate literacy.