Esme watched Wind in the Willows last night, and she was enthralled by the characters - that flamboyent and selfish Toad, wise old Mr. Badger, witty Rat, and homely Mole.
I know from experience shopping around a children's book I wrote a few years back that agents and editors don't like to see anthropomorphism in new stories, but I can't figure out for the life of me why not. Okay, so there is something cheesy about it, but the kids love it. And while it may not be accurate to imply that animals have feelings just like humans, it is important that children understand that animals do have feelings. And the differences between animals's personalities can sometimes help illuminate different human personalities (as in the Wind in the Willows).
So I say bring it on. We'll read Wind in the Willows, and when Esme gets old enough, she'll read Watership Down, which isn't just beautiful for kids but is an amazing book for adults too. Considering all the crap I see in the children's section of bookstores these days (let's just say Disney and other TV brands should stick to video), maybe these editors and agents need to rethink what they're looking for.
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I have been equally disappointed by the lack of anthropomorphism present in current childrens books. I remember reading a wonderful article about a child's identification with strong character archetypes. Animals provide us with simple and clear behavioural characteristics (think Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox) that are easily adapted into imaginitive play. When we try to teach children about the complexities of human character without such a cast, we have to rely on jobs or ethnicities to hang the traits from- neither of which is satisfactory.
At three, Imogen loves the Beatrix Potter stories, which are beautiful and unsentimental but also introduce the realities of animal instincts and the food chain, which can be unsettling at times. The BBC has just released a wonderful dvd set of the complete works using live film and hand-drawn animation with quality actors' voices. Even for an (almost) tv-free child, these are magical.
I have also gone back to find books published by the Medici press in the 60's-80's. All out of press now, I find them second-hand on Amazon. Authors like Racey Helps, Audrey Tarrant and Molly Brett cannot be beaten. They offer exquisite works of art on each page, and enchanting stories of animals and wildlife fairies or spirits. The stories may be wordy, but she is captivated by characters like Pinny Needlekin the hedgehog, Mr Cunningly-Sleigh the fox and Diggy Winks the mole. Beyond adding to the richness of a child's understanding of the animal kingdom, this type of story enables them to bring animals into their imaginative play world- and you know how much that matters to me!
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