Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories

Kanae Hara; Naoko Koda

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories

Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Received: 11 December 2022 Accepted: 25 December 2022 Published: 13 January 2023

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Abstract

This study quantitatively examines the characteristics of depictions of animals in 189 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories in which humans are the protagonists, and explores the interactions between humans and animals. While many animals are involved in protagonists’ movement to other worlds, far more animals are uninvolved. The animals are often portrayed as having unclear age and sex. Various species have been identified, and cats are the most popular animals that assist the protagonists’ movement and they may or may not opt to participate in their movement; meanwhile, crows tend to trigger the movement. Animals that are uninvolved in the protagonists’ movement are characterized by their location depending on whether they are domestic animals, which tend to be shown in the world before the protagonists’ movement; feral animals tend to be seen in the world after the protagonists’ movement. Many animals in picture books give children a sense of security while reading from the standpoint of biophilia and promoting understanding of the story. The vagueness of animals’ age, sex, and appearance can expand the imaginations of child readers. Cats, in particular, can attract humans from the inside to the outside of their living sphere with their fantastical nature associated with their ecology and history of relationships with humans as companion animals. Crows are described as having the ability to cross the real world and other realms due to their history of being worshiped by humans and their ability to fly. Fantastic there and back again stories in picture books provide opportunities for children to form perceptions of animals. Further, depictions of animals in picture books may expand children’s cognition when they understand the world and form their own perspectives.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 11, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
Page(s)	5-12
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), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Child Development, Fantasy, There and Back Again Stories, Human-Animal Interactions, Picture Books

References

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APA Style

Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda. (2023). Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 11(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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Kanae Hara; Naoko Koda. Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2023, 11(1), 5-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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AMA Style

Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda. Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. Int J Lit Arts. 2023;11(1):5-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12,
  author = {Kanae Hara and Naoko Koda},
  title = {Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {5-12},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20231101.12},
  abstract = {This study quantitatively examines the characteristics of depictions of animals in 189 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories in which humans are the protagonists, and explores the interactions between humans and animals. While many animals are involved in protagonists’ movement to other worlds, far more animals are uninvolved. The animals are often portrayed as having unclear age and sex. Various species have been identified, and cats are the most popular animals that assist the protagonists’ movement and they may or may not opt to participate in their movement; meanwhile, crows tend to trigger the movement. Animals that are uninvolved in the protagonists’ movement are characterized by their location depending on whether they are domestic animals, which tend to be shown in the world before the protagonists’ movement; feral animals tend to be seen in the world after the protagonists’ movement. Many animals in picture books give children a sense of security while reading from the standpoint of biophilia and promoting understanding of the story. The vagueness of animals’ age, sex, and appearance can expand the imaginations of child readers. Cats, in particular, can attract humans from the inside to the outside of their living sphere with their fantastical nature associated with their ecology and history of relationships with humans as companion animals. Crows are described as having the ability to cross the real world and other realms due to their history of being worshiped by humans and their ability to fly. Fantastic there and back again stories in picture books provide opportunities for children to form perceptions of animals. Further, depictions of animals in picture books may expand children’s cognition when they understand the world and form their own perspectives.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories
AU  - Kanae Hara
AU  - Naoko Koda
Y1  - 2023/01/13
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 5
EP  - 12
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
AB  - This study quantitatively examines the characteristics of depictions of animals in 189 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories in which humans are the protagonists, and explores the interactions between humans and animals. While many animals are involved in protagonists’ movement to other worlds, far more animals are uninvolved. The animals are often portrayed as having unclear age and sex. Various species have been identified, and cats are the most popular animals that assist the protagonists’ movement and they may or may not opt to participate in their movement; meanwhile, crows tend to trigger the movement. Animals that are uninvolved in the protagonists’ movement are characterized by their location depending on whether they are domestic animals, which tend to be shown in the world before the protagonists’ movement; feral animals tend to be seen in the world after the protagonists’ movement. Many animals in picture books give children a sense of security while reading from the standpoint of biophilia and promoting understanding of the story. The vagueness of animals’ age, sex, and appearance can expand the imaginations of child readers. Cats, in particular, can attract humans from the inside to the outside of their living sphere with their fantastical nature associated with their ecology and history of relationships with humans as companion animals. Crows are described as having the ability to cross the real world and other realms due to their history of being worshiped by humans and their ability to fly. Fantastic there and back again stories in picture books provide opportunities for children to form perceptions of animals. Further, depictions of animals in picture books may expand children’s cognition when they understand the world and form their own perspectives.
VL  - 11
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Kanae Hara

Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Naoko Koda

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

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APA Style

Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda. (2023). Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 11(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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ACS Style

Kanae Hara; Naoko Koda. Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2023, 11(1), 5-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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AMA Style

Kanae Hara, Naoko Koda. Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories. Int J Lit Arts. 2023;11(1):5-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12,
  author = {Kanae Hara and Naoko Koda},
  title = {Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {5-12},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20231101.12},
  abstract = {This study quantitatively examines the characteristics of depictions of animals in 189 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories in which humans are the protagonists, and explores the interactions between humans and animals. While many animals are involved in protagonists’ movement to other worlds, far more animals are uninvolved. The animals are often portrayed as having unclear age and sex. Various species have been identified, and cats are the most popular animals that assist the protagonists’ movement and they may or may not opt to participate in their movement; meanwhile, crows tend to trigger the movement. Animals that are uninvolved in the protagonists’ movement are characterized by their location depending on whether they are domestic animals, which tend to be shown in the world before the protagonists’ movement; feral animals tend to be seen in the world after the protagonists’ movement. Many animals in picture books give children a sense of security while reading from the standpoint of biophilia and promoting understanding of the story. The vagueness of animals’ age, sex, and appearance can expand the imaginations of child readers. Cats, in particular, can attract humans from the inside to the outside of their living sphere with their fantastical nature associated with their ecology and history of relationships with humans as companion animals. Crows are described as having the ability to cross the real world and other realms due to their history of being worshiped by humans and their ability to fly. Fantastic there and back again stories in picture books provide opportunities for children to form perceptions of animals. Further, depictions of animals in picture books may expand children’s cognition when they understand the world and form their own perspectives.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Characteristics of Animals in Picture Books of the Fantastic There and Back Again Stories
AU  - Kanae Hara
AU  - Naoko Koda
Y1  - 2023/01/13
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 5
EP  - 12
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20231101.12
AB  - This study quantitatively examines the characteristics of depictions of animals in 189 picture books of fantastic there and back again stories in which humans are the protagonists, and explores the interactions between humans and animals. While many animals are involved in protagonists’ movement to other worlds, far more animals are uninvolved. The animals are often portrayed as having unclear age and sex. Various species have been identified, and cats are the most popular animals that assist the protagonists’ movement and they may or may not opt to participate in their movement; meanwhile, crows tend to trigger the movement. Animals that are uninvolved in the protagonists’ movement are characterized by their location depending on whether they are domestic animals, which tend to be shown in the world before the protagonists’ movement; feral animals tend to be seen in the world after the protagonists’ movement. Many animals in picture books give children a sense of security while reading from the standpoint of biophilia and promoting understanding of the story. The vagueness of animals’ age, sex, and appearance can expand the imaginations of child readers. Cats, in particular, can attract humans from the inside to the outside of their living sphere with their fantastical nature associated with their ecology and history of relationships with humans as companion animals. Crows are described as having the ability to cross the real world and other realms due to their history of being worshiped by humans and their ability to fly. Fantastic there and back again stories in picture books provide opportunities for children to form perceptions of animals. Further, depictions of animals in picture books may expand children’s cognition when they understand the world and form their own perspectives.
VL  - 11
IS  - 1
ER  -

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