A mix of everyone at the lake.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Interesting!<\/p>\n

While pondering upon an idea for my next posting\u2026 my supportive husband sent me the link below\u2026\u201cIt popped up on Google news this morning\u2026 might interest you, a possible subject for your blog.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a scientist, nor am I a child psychologist however, I would like to contribute my thoughts on these findings.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/article\/news-ani\/why-books-with-talking-animals-aren-t-good-for-your-kids-114032600679_1.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cResearchers have warned against teaching children about the real world with books that feature animals with human characteristics, as it not only leads to less factual learning and influences their reasoning about animals. Scientists at University of\u00a0Toronto also found that young readers are more likely to attribute human behaviors and emotions to animals when exposed to books with anthropomorphized animals than books depicting animals realistically. Lead author Patricia Ganea, Assistant Professor at the university, said that books that portray animals realistically lead to more learning and more accurate biological understanding. “We were surprised to find that even the older children in our study were sensitive to the anthropocentric portrayals of animals in the books and attributed more human characteristics to animals after being exposed to fantastical books than after being exposed to realistic books,” she said. The researchers advise parents and teachers to consider using a variety of informational and nonfiction books, and to use factual language when describing the biological world to young children.” \u2014<\/i>The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Alice in Wonderland<\/i> by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson 1865<\/p>\n

The Tale of Peter Rabbit<\/i> by Beatrice Potter 1902<\/p>\n

White Fang<\/i> by Jack London 1906<\/p>\n

The Wind in the Willow<\/i> by Kenneth Graham 1908<\/p>\n

The Animals of Farthing Wood<\/i> by Colin Dann 1979<\/p>\n

\u2026 and Redwall<\/i> by Brian Jacques 1986<\/p>\n

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I grew up cherishing these books.<\/p>\n

Do take note that these wonderful, heart-warming stories \u201cportraying animals with human characteristics\u201d were written during the Golden Age of children\u2019s literature when children\u2019s stories were luxuriously illustrated.<\/p>\n

This period spanned from the 1860\u2019s to the end of 1920.<\/p>\n

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As a child I loved reading these titles. Personally, they were treasured stories that took me far away to enchanted forests and mystical worlds laden with intelligent talking animals. I would bury myself into these books distancing myself from the real world. I wanted to be a part of this magical fictional world.<\/p>\n

As I grew older my perception of the books changed. I began to question why animals were portrayed with human attributes. All that changed during motherhood. I was once again drawn back into my favorite stories seeing the same stories in a different light; as seen by my children. What can I say; they loved it as much as I loved reading these books to my children.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m much older and wiser, I am a children\u2019s writer. I write stories with animals, giving them human attributes because children love stories with animals especially a talking one.<\/p>\n

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Now touching on the same topic but on a different note; teaching children about the real world of animals should encompasses hiking trips, animal sanctuary where injured animals are cared for, trips to SPCA but not limited to these; and for a more biological aspect into the deep realistic world of the animal kingdom there is always Discovery Channel and Animal Planet and Nat Geo. Children know more than adults where to draw the distinction between a talking mouse and the rodent in their kitchen \u2013 if they have one.<\/p>\n

There is a huge difference between watching Sponge Bob (I\u2019m addicted to it), visiting Marineland and watching the wildlife in Cape Cod.<\/p>\n

Teachers and parents should know how to approach a situation realistically. Real life situations can be related to Franklin the Turtle. If you ask a three year old if a turtle can ride a bike he would most definitely say no. These books were written to influence the reasoning of a child to relate to human attributes and children do relate well to animals and other children. They have a sense of security knowing they are not alone with their feelings.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s pure common sense to use non-fictional books to introduce children to the world of animals. Since television is widely used in our schools it\u2019s never too early for educators to introduce the students to Sir David Attenborough or the Kratt brothers.<\/p>\n

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I love Arthur <\/i>by Marc Brown, however I wouldn\u2019t teach a child about an aardvark using the Arthur series. Arthur is Arthur; he is just the boy next door who loves to read. No one even cares what animal Francine portrays. Children articulate their feelings by relating to situations other children go through and by relating to anthropomorphized animals.<\/p>\n

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This mom and children\u2019s writer thinks it\u2019s in their genetic make up.<\/p>\n

Keep writing and ask me how I can help you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"