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As the dictum goes: "Two is company, three is a crowd." No wonder, therefore, that the kitten Kailey and the little bunny Sammy felt uncomfortable about the prospect of another animal, especially an 'unusual' one. It's obvious that jealousy cuts across the gamut of the animal species, with humans being the topmost culprits. I find it clever of the author to use such a story to illustrate this undesirable trait in animals (we humans included).

Yes, it's an interesting technique that children's writers do. They give human characteristics to animals in an effort to make them more relatable to children. At the same time, they create animal characters instead of human to create a sort of emotional distance. It's easier for younger children to relate and talk about certain subjects if the character doesn't closely resemble them too closely.

Another more simple reason is just that animal characters are cute. Who doesn't prefer to read about a cute, jealous bunny than a jealous human? We see jealous humans way too much in the world we live in already.

Using animal characters is fairly common in children's books and TV. I agree with Amagine's emotional distance reasoning, and that bunny certainly is cute. I thought the story was a cute way of addressing what can be a dangerous emotion.

I didn't actually think about the concept, "Two is company, three is a crowd." That is a very good point. I know, for me, it is definitely easier to speak with one other person than trying to include two in conversation. Sometimes, that third one becomes the "third wheel". Nice spotting and clever on the author's part!

this type of concept i really prefer because it will give more room for expression.because there are different animals involved,unlike the use of human being.i really like the concept.

Fables give the children more exciting twist because they will be motivated to imagine animals with different emotions and with different personalities.

-- 14 May 2017, 01:53 --

Guppy wrote:Using animal characters is fairly common in children's books and TV. I agree with Amagine's emotional distance reasoning, and that bunny certainly is cute. I thought the story was a cute way of addressing what can be a dangerous emotion.

Using animal characters in children's story books will introduce the animals to the children. It will teach children to appreciate and respect the animals.

Tomiwa wrote:this type of concept i really prefer because it will give more room for expression.because there are different animals involved,unlike the use of human being.i really like the concept.

I do agree that with animal characters you can do things that you can't do with human characters.

Donnavila Marie01 wrote:Using animal characters in children's story books will introduce the animals to the children. It will teach children to appreciate and respect the animals.

I like how you mentioned this because it reminds me of a student that I once had. Sweetest girl I've ever met, so innocent, hardworking, respectful, and kind. However, she never had a pet (and her mom was a bit off, if you know what I mean). This young girl said something a bit sad one day. She said that animals don't have feelings, so it doesn't matter what happens to them. It was so heart-breaking that this sweet, innocent girl thought animals didn't have feelings. Of course, this was a teachable moment, but your thought made me think of her.

I agree that casting characters as animals in children's books helps to develop empathy, love and respect for animals. It's also, as other readers have said, much cuter to read about certain characteristics in animal form, rather than human sometimes.

I liked that they expressed some natural emotions that we feel in the book to help children understand what it is and how bad it can be.