Why Do Cavies Talk Analysis

The article "Do Cavies Talk? The Effect of Anthropomorphic Picture Books on Children's Knowledge about Animals," argues that showing anthropomorphized animals in books negatively influences children’s perception of nature; however, a counterargument confirms that children gain a sense of both factual and moral impacts, which can influence their knowledge positively. Children subtly acquire biological information about animals through an anthropomorphic story. Such is the case in Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte, a plain grey spider introduces to the reader the intricate processes of constructing a spider web; when Wilbur insists that he would like to make one as well, she proclaims, “ you can’t spin a web… you lack a set of spinnerets and you lack know-how. But cheer up, you don’t need a web (White 58-60)” The quote stresses the biological need of spinnerets a spider needs to spin a web, in addition to inspirational reinforcement she offers to her friend, which serves as the anthropomorphic device in the story.
Clad in a “shawl and poke bonnet,” (Potter) Jemima Puddle-Duck is determined to lay her own eggs. The fact that she dresses, in what humans associate with mother goose, acts as a link between gender roles and Jemima’s apparel; that is, children might not be able to tell the difference between a male or a female duck, so the picture book accentuates gender to guide the child’s understanding that female geese lay eggs. Thus, reiterating the concept that biological facts are present and beneficial within the