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Conversion in Depictions of Anthropomorphic Animals in Picture Books

Received: 13 November 2021     Accepted: 6 December 2021     Published: 11 December 2021
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Abstract

Picture books are familiar media for children and have a great influence on children's development. Particularly, narrative picture books contribute to the development of children's imagination and provide the basis of rich cultural life throughout their lives. There are many animals depicted in picture books. Animals in narrative picture books for children often appear anthropomorphized, and depictions of animals sometimes mix real and anthropomorphic characteristics. This study focused on conversions of animals in picture books between anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic forms. In 591 picture books, 1,930 cases of conversion were observed. In stories with human characters, many conversions involved cats and dogs and changes from non-anthropomorphic animals to anthropomorphic forms. The main triggers of temporary conversions were human or animal-like behaviors and emotions of the characters, while the main causes of long-term conversions were the structures of the stories and character movement to different worlds or into space. The backgrounds of the conversions were deeply related to the social image of animals and to human-animal interactions. Conversion highlights the boundaries between animals and humans and conveys impressive scenes to children which should stimulate child development. The depiction related to children's development in picture books would be one of the reasons why animal picture books are so popular among children.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27
Page(s) 374-383
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Anthropomorphic Animals, Child Development, Conversion in Depiction, Human-animal Interactions, Picture Books

References
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  • APA Style

    Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda. (2021). Conversion in Depictions of Anthropomorphic Animals in Picture Books. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 374-383. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27

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    ACS Style

    Kanae Hara; Naoko Koda. Conversion in Depictions of Anthropomorphic Animals in Picture Books. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 374-383. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27

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    AMA Style

    Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda. Conversion in Depictions of Anthropomorphic Animals in Picture Books. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):374-383. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27,
      author = {Kanae Hara and Naoko Koda},
      title = {Conversion in Depictions of Anthropomorphic Animals in Picture Books},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {9},
      number = {6},
      pages = {374-383},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.27},
      abstract = {Picture books are familiar media for children and have a great influence on children's development. Particularly, narrative picture books contribute to the development of children's imagination and provide the basis of rich cultural life throughout their lives. There are many animals depicted in picture books. Animals in narrative picture books for children often appear anthropomorphized, and depictions of animals sometimes mix real and anthropomorphic characteristics. This study focused on conversions of animals in picture books between anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic forms. In 591 picture books, 1,930 cases of conversion were observed. In stories with human characters, many conversions involved cats and dogs and changes from non-anthropomorphic animals to anthropomorphic forms. The main triggers of temporary conversions were human or animal-like behaviors and emotions of the characters, while the main causes of long-term conversions were the structures of the stories and character movement to different worlds or into space. The backgrounds of the conversions were deeply related to the social image of animals and to human-animal interactions. Conversion highlights the boundaries between animals and humans and conveys impressive scenes to children which should stimulate child development. The depiction related to children's development in picture books would be one of the reasons why animal picture books are so popular among children.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Conversion in Depictions of Anthropomorphic Animals in Picture Books
    AU  - Kanae Hara
    AU  - Naoko Koda
    Y1  - 2021/12/11
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27
    T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    SP  - 374
    EP  - 383
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-057X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.27
    AB  - Picture books are familiar media for children and have a great influence on children's development. Particularly, narrative picture books contribute to the development of children's imagination and provide the basis of rich cultural life throughout their lives. There are many animals depicted in picture books. Animals in narrative picture books for children often appear anthropomorphized, and depictions of animals sometimes mix real and anthropomorphic characteristics. This study focused on conversions of animals in picture books between anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic forms. In 591 picture books, 1,930 cases of conversion were observed. In stories with human characters, many conversions involved cats and dogs and changes from non-anthropomorphic animals to anthropomorphic forms. The main triggers of temporary conversions were human or animal-like behaviors and emotions of the characters, while the main causes of long-term conversions were the structures of the stories and character movement to different worlds or into space. The backgrounds of the conversions were deeply related to the social image of animals and to human-animal interactions. Conversion highlights the boundaries between animals and humans and conveys impressive scenes to children which should stimulate child development. The depiction related to children's development in picture books would be one of the reasons why animal picture books are so popular among children.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

  • Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

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