With the success of films like Finding Nemo, Zootopia, The Secret Lives of Pets, it’s obvious that children respond positively to stories that involve animals in human settings and roles. Several well-known children’s stories (Aesop’s Fables, Charlotte’s Web, Alice in Wonderland, etc), use this device to provide a narrative that teaches important lessons and leaves room for children to ask questions.
Anthropomorphism, as it is formally termed, is a literary device used to assign human traits to an animal or object.
Stories involving characters that are animals create a neutral emotional space in which to problem solve and have conversations. Talking animals can address everyday needs and concerns as they try out our human roles for us. Their trials and errors, rewards and punishments, actions and reactions present ways in which to communicate well, ways to come to conclusions, and ways to develop relationship.
Here are some of the titles we have had that have animals as title characters and the lessons they have learned:
