Animal Fantasy Power Point presentation.

2.  Fantasy stories in which main characters are
anthropomorphic animals that talk, experience
emotions, and have the ability to reason like humans.
 Anthropomorphic animals are animals with human
characteristics.

3. Questions to ask yourself:
• How believable are the anthropomorphic animals?
• Does the protagonist possess an appropriate mix of
both animal and human characteristics?
• Does the book tell a good story that children will
enjoy?
• Is the plot credible?

4.  Includes one or more animals as the focus of the story.
 Stories appeal to children.
 Children can relate to the stories because of their pets.
 Young children may see animals as having human characteristics.
 Animals in these books have human traits like talking, forming friendships,
and wearing clothing.
 Some very popular books focus on animal protagonists – Curious George,
Peter Rabbit, and Paddington Bear.
 “Authors use animal characters because they can convey ideas by analogy,
ideas which have greater impact than if child characters are used.”
 The most common plots take place in contemporary setting and focus on
every day issues that mimic human nature.
 Animal stories are often children’s favorite books.

5.  1877: Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse
by Anna Sewell
 First significant animal fantasy story
 Published in England
 Not written as a children’s book – written as a protest against the
cruel treatment of animals
 1902: The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
 Protype of children’s picture story books
 Potter privately printed the first edition after 6 publishers turned her
down
 Cautionary tale warning children about consequences of not
minding their parents
 1908: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth
Graham
 First major animal fantasy novel specifically for children
 Written in England
 Different customs and vocabulary make it difficult for children to
read

6.  1942: The Pokey Little Puppy by Janette Lowrey
 Named all-time best-selling children’s picture book in the U.S. by
Publishers Weekly
 About 15 million copies were sold in the U.S. in the first 58 years of
its publication
 1952: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
 Most-loved animal fantasy novel of the twentieth century
 The all-time best-selling children’s paper back book in the U.S.
 More than 11 million copies sold in the U.S. in the first 48 years of
its publication
 1957: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
 Protype of easy-to-read picture story books written on a beginning
reader’s level
 Dr. Seuss published more than 60 children’s books

7.  Type I: Anthropomorphic Animals in an All-
Animal World
 Type II: Anthropomorphic Animals Coexisting
with Humans
 Type III: Talking Animals in Natural Habitats
 Type IV: Realistic Animals with Human Thinking
Ability

8. The anthropomorphic animals take the
place of humans and exist in a totally
animal world.
Animal characters behave mostly like
humans – talking, living in house, eating
human food, wearing clothes.
Examples: Frog and Toad are Friends
by Arnold Lobel and Tulip and Lupin
Forever by Mireille Levert

9.  Animals coexist with humans, sometimes in a
human dominated world.
 May or may not be able to speak and sometimes
move back and forth from the animal world to the
human world.
 Common characters: pets, farm animals, mice,
and wild animals
 Examples: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White and
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

10.  Animals do not wear clothes or live in houses
and humans are not present.
 Animals live in natural-type habitats and
display many animal traits.
 Animals are able to talk to animals of all
species, and they portray human emotions and
thoughts.
 Examples: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric
Carle and Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

11.  It is set in the real world, so animals live in appropriate habitats.
 Their knowledge of human ways is limited to what they can
observe and comprehend.
 They can communicate with animals of the same species only.
 The author tells the story through the animals point of view and
assigns some human emotions to the animal characters because
of this.
 It is a very small subcategory of Animal Fantasy
 Plots often show a conflict of some kind.
 Examples: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and The Call of the Wild
by Jack London

12. “A sympathetic story
about Sister Bear, who
conquers her fear of
starting kindergarten.
Sister Bear, nervous
about entering
kindergarten, overcomes
her fears when she
discovers that school is
really fun."
Activity: Listen to the story about going back to
school and pick out similarities and
differences with how you feel about going
back to school.

13. “Charlotte's Web has been
loved by generations of
children! This is the tale of
Charlotte the spider, and her
efforts to save the life of her
friend, Wilbur the pig. It is
beautifully written, with
messages of compassion
and caring."
Activity: Students will write a letter to Mr. Arable
about what he should do with Wilbur.

14. “Anansi the Spider uses a
strange moss-covered rock in
the forest to trick all the other
animals, until Little Bush
Deer decides he needs to
learn a lesson."
Activity: Students will use the computers to look up
Anansi the spider to find Anansi’s origins and
mythological background. They will copy the
information they find and share it with the class.

15. “This is a tale of friendship
between a chicken and a
hedgehog. Henny desperately
wants the hungry Tomten (a
mischievous elf) to stop eating
her eggs so that she can have
chicks of her own. Hedgie
comes to her aid with a plan to
frighten the Tomten away for
good."
Activity: Have the students make a time line
of the sequence of events that happened
in the story.

16. “The Tale of Peter Rabbit is
a children’s book written
and illustrated by Beatrix
Potter that follows
mischievous and
disobedient young Peter
Rabbit as he is chased
about the garden of Mr.
McGregor."
Activity: Students will do a character
analysis of Peter Rabbit.

17. “On a trip to the
country, a little dog
named Muffin
encounters all kinds
of new and puzzling
sounds."
Activity: The students will do a readers
theatre with The Summer Noisy Book.

20.  https://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/wwr/animals.html
 http://childliterature.net/childlit/animal/
 http://www-tc.pbskids.org/berenstainbears/caregiver/BB_Sec_5.pdf
 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/berenstain-bears-go-to-school-stan-
berenstain/1100192780?ean=9780394837369
 https://www.teachervision.com/childrens-book/activity/1732.html
 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/833229.Anansi_and_the_Mos
s_Covered_Rock
 http://www.liveoakmedia.com/client/guides/26754.pdf
 http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/hedgies-surprise-lesson-
plan
 http://novelsummary.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/the-tale-of-peter-rabbit/
 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237358.The_Summer_Noisy_
Book
 Elementary Children’s Literature by Nancy A. Anderson