ABSTRACT
The predominance of animals in children's books comes as no surprise when looking at the way Western civilisations treat both children and animals. Countries in other parts of the world take a far less sentimental attitude towards both groups, as did pre-industrial revolution Britain and Europe. Indeed, de Mause (1976:274, 280) has suggested that not only did pet animals roam freely throughout early European dwellings, providing a health hazard for crawling infants, but that bestiality was also rife. However, in recent centuries animals and children have been linked together in terms of their privileged and protected position in the culture so inextricably that since the nineteenth century children's books have strongly featured animal characters either exhibiting strong human characteristics or showing empathy for such traits.
