Animals in Literature

When selecting children’s books, please consider the following guidelines to determine if the book promotes humane care of animals.

Please avoid books where the birth of kittens and puppies is glorified. There is a severe pet overpopulation problem in the United States where approximately 5 million dogs & cats are destroyed annually.

Please avoid/discuss stories where dogs & cats are given away “FREE” to a good home. Many times children are depicted as the ones giving animals away, or it is done on a street corner. This behavior should not be presented in a positive light.

Avoid/discuss stories in which the family’s puppy or dog behaves badly and the dog is relegated to become an outdoor dog. Most behavior problems in dogs can be solved with consistency and training.

Clarify stories where dogs & cats are not under the control of their owner or are not being supervised out of doors by a person. Keep in mind that children absorb a lot through visual learning. Look at the illustrations in your book. Are the animals wearing collars & tags? Is a dog unleashed? If not, discuss that point while reading the story.

Clarify stories where dogs or cats are portrayed as living on their own and there are no humans in sight. Included in these types of stories are mother cats that raise their kittens on their own out in the woods or a barn and lost dogs or cats portrayed as being off on an adventure. In reality, a dog or cat living on its own faces a harsh existence and likely, an early death.

When very realistic animal illustrations are used in children’s books, the animals should be portrayed engaging in natural animal behavior. If animals talk, dress in clothing, dance and serve tea etc. the illustrations should be done in a style that plainly indicates that this is an imaginary story. Otherwise these books can be very confusing to children.

Situations where humans feed or interact with wild mammals at very close range should be avoided, especially with the problem of rabies.

To assist you in locating books with humane themes, check the recommended reading list on the Kids & Teens page of this website.

Other resources for humane books include the ASPCA and NAHEE, the National Association for Humane and Environmental Education.

Thank you to the Robert Potter League for Animals for sharing information used in compiling this list.