To Read or Not to Eat
Anthropomorphism in Children’s Books
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12419059 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anastassiya Andrianova (0000-0003-0386-3568, Department of English, North Dakota State University Fargo, ND, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 847-865 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Society and Animals (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15685306-bja10045 |
| OpenAlex | W3200184850 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 12 |
Anthropomorphic nonhuman animals figure prominently in children’s literature, teaching young readers relevant life lessons and adding variety, humor, and emotional distance to safely consider otherwise traumatizing ideas. Despite its educational and developmental value, however, using animal characters to tell human stories normalizes the very same mechanisms that adult humans use to subjugate real animals. Bringing animal-studies insights to bear on children’s literature and development, this article critiques the use of anthropomorphism in children’s books and urges that, short of the unrealistic demand to abandon the animal as metaphor, young readers and their adult mentors reread children’s books critically and discuss ways of making animals matter. The article examines the debate about anthropomorphism in science and its application to childhood development. It then turns to the pros and cons of anthropomorphizing animals in children’s books and discusses specific examples of books featuring anthropomorphic animal characters
Art · Developmental psychology · Linguistics · Literature · Metaphor · Picture books · Value (mathematics · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · Digital Storytelling and Education · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Philosophy · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis
Post-Modernism and the Ethical Subject
The Cambridge Introduction to Literature and the Environment
The mind behind anthropomorphic thinking
Pernicious Portrayals
Child's place in nature
Our Children and Other Animals
Talking Animals in British Children's Fiction, 1786-1914
Gender in Twentieth-Century Children's Books
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |