MOWMT March 13: From Animals to Vehicles with Three Authors
Anthropomorphism in Children’s Books:
From Animals to Vegetables to Vehicles
In January 2020 the world seemed focused on the tragedy caused by bushfires in Australia, the loss of animal habitats, and estimates of as many as a billion animals wiped out. It was heartbreaking.
Historically, anthropomorphic characters are animals used to represent human traits, for example a fox or a wolf will be a clever trickster and an owl will be the source of wisdom. We are not talking about ‘what big eyes your grandma has’ in this post - today, three authors will share why they made unique choices and how they serve the story.
Read on for ideas using anthropomorphism and why it works in children’s books for a myriad of reasons.
Laura Roettiger writes: When I heard about rescuers finding different species of animals that had survived by living in wombat burrows, I knew this would make a good story for children. It was THE “feel good” story on all the news outlets and on social media. As a teacher, I always want to include layers of learning into my manuscripts, so I brainstormed the most interesting animals found only in Australia. Besides the wombat, the first three that came to mind, kangaroo, koala, and emu were not animals found in the burrows. I wanted to include them, but how? I wrote the manuscript which became AN ACCIDENTAL HERO: A MOSTLY TRUE WOMBAT STORY as a newscast with Koala and Emu in the newsroom and Kangaroo as the field reporter. I recently looked back at my first draft from January 2020 and the basic framework stayed intact. I wrote it all in dialogue and much of my horribly drawn dummy and page turns are reflected in the final book.
By writing a story that had serious themes and information about climate change, dangerous fires, and loss of habitat while focusing on the rescue of animals found in wombat burrows, I was able to inject heart, hope, and humor into my manuscript. Using animals as the storytellers further allows the book to be accessible to a picture book audience.
The title has two important clues and connects to why I chose an anthropomorphic approach instead of writing this as a lyrical story or nonfiction; both are equally valid but not what I wrote. Wombats didn’t invite other animals into the burrows which is why ACCIDENTAL is part of the title because I wanted to include the moral dilemma of ‘What would you do?’
Additionally, A MOSTLY TRUE WOMBAT STORY sums things up for me. The facts are there but of course talking animals puts this in the informational fiction category. I have both an author’s note and extensive well-researched back matter which allows teachers, caregivers, and older readers to extend their understanding of climate change, the animals in the story, and facts about wildfires.
Jill Dana writes: I love writing stories with anthropomorphized characters. I think that anthropomorphism works well in children’s books for many reasons. Who has a better imagination than a child? Children are naturally full of wonder about the world. Part of this imagination is a wonderful sense of play where children naturally anthropomorphize whichever toy or object they are playing with and animals or plants as well. This openness and sense of wonder extends to stories that they’re reading or watching. This creates opportunities for authors to create stories that nurture and extend that playfulness with anthropomorphic characters.
In my last MOWMT post, I explored how the main characters of children’s books are often a stand-in for the child reader. (To explore anthropomorphism of objects more, check out my MOWMT post: https://www.rateyourstory.org/single-post/mowmt-day-10-jill-dana-explores-the-possibilities) Sometimes, an anthropomorphic character creates an extra layer of distance for the reader where it can feel safer to explore different ideas and situations.
Writing about an anthropomorphic character gives the writer the opportunity to choose any main character. For example, the characters in the Butternut series are all foods. I can create a world where a butternut squash questions “his” identity and goes on an exploration of self-identity. Is he butter, a nut, squash, or squashed? In this case, any young reader (and many adult readers too) can identify with Butternut and reflect on their own identity. While Butternut learns to be proud of who he is, I hope that young readers will take pride in who they are as well.
There are additional themes in the Butternut series. By choosing a food main character (or another anthropomorphic character), writers can nurture and encourage children’s imagination and foster empathy with the world around them. Empathy for a squash character can also translate to empathy for nature. I hope that the Butternut series encourages young readers to learn more about food, where food comes from, farming and more. By anthropomorphizing squashes, I’ve heard many stories of young readers who run to the squashes in the produce section and are excited about fruits and vegetables. As writers, we’re planting seeds of connections to the world around us (pun intended).
Kelly Rice Schmidt writes: We are humans. Kids are humans. So why not use human emotions and abilities that kids can already understand to help them better relate to things that are non-human? Why not spark deeper understanding, pretend play, and activate imaginations? This is what using anthropomorphism can do. In my book I SHIP: A CONTAINER SHIP’S COLOSSAL JOURNEY, the narrator is a massive container ship. Most people don’t have access to ride on a container ship or see one in real life, so I used first person POV and anthropomorphism to allow readers to feel like they were aboard Ship taking the journey with the crew—for all the ups and downs. In my read alouds, I pretend I am the captain and have the listeners be my crew. It’s really fun! When I wrote early drafts in third person, the story didn’t have the immediacy or heart it does now.
Stories told from an inanimate object’s perspective can also give your book a fresh approach and help it stand out in a crowded market. But deciding how much anthropomorphizing to do is a bit tricky. Should a ship have eyes? Should it be able to cry? For I SHIP, my wise editor, Carol Hinz at Lerner, thought it would be best to minimize the human characteristics and instead, allow the ship’s actual parts and the crew on board to help show the emotion of this journey. Here are some examples. To show the anxiety of the ship facing a traffic jam: “As time ticks, mariners twitch. My captain paces the bridge”. To show the excitement of the journey beginning: “Engines ahead! HONK! Sun on my deck, birds at my stern, I slice through salty seas.” Because I SHIP is nearly non-fiction, this was the best approach for me. Remember that each book has different goals, so your book may work best with more anthropomorphism like picture books A Penny’s Worth by Kimberly B. Wilson and Mark Hoffman or The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers.
Anthropomorphism is a fun, but complicated, method of writing for kids. It can be hard to figure out the right number of human features to include, but if you get it right, it can be so rewarding and help readers connect to something on a deeper level. I hope you’ll give it a try in your own writing!
Laura Roettiger is a reading specialist from Chicago, IL who weaves her passion for STEM learning into stories for children. Her roots in Chicago remain deep but now her home and heart are firmly settled in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with her Goldendoodle Charlie.
Since moving to Colorado, Laura focused on writing for children, working in environmental education, and mentoring teachers at a STEM school. Her superpower of encouraging curiosity in children has transferred to her books. Her debut ALIANA REACHES FOR THE MOON (Eifrig Publishing, 2019) shares the story of a girl who combines observation, research, and experimental play to create a beautiful surprise for her brother. AN ACCIDENTAL HERO: A MOSTLY-TRUE WOMBAT STORY by Laura Roettiger and Debbie Palen (Eifrig Publishing, 2024) allows readers to understand the devastation of fire while experiencing hope when a stranger offers shelter and kindness. Laura loves lifelong learning! She has worked in a variety of careers and volunteer roles, earned
degrees in business, teaching, and reading, while raising three children.
Laura combines her enthusiasm for helping others with the knowledge and experience she’s
gained along the way. This is most recently evidenced in her co-creating the promotion group
BlueSky
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