Whether they see themselves as King of the Wild Things or protector of Toto, children live in a world filled with animals--both real and imaginary. From Black Beauty to Barney, animal charactersromp through children's books, cartoons, videos, and computer games. As Gail Melson tells us, more than three-quarters of all children in America live with pets and are now more likely to grow up with a pet than with both parents. Sheexplores not only the therapeutic power of pet-owning for children with emotional or physical handicaps but also the ways in which zoo and farm animals, and even certain purple television characters, become confidants or teachers forchildren--and sometimes, tragically, their victims.

Yet perhaps because animals are ubiquitous, what they really mean to children, for better and for worse, has been unexplored territory.Why the Wild Things Areis the first book to examine children's many connections to animals and to explore their developmental significance. What does it mean that children's earliest dreams are ofanimals? What is the unique gift that a puppy can give to a boy? Drawing on psychological research, history, and children's media, Why the Wild Things Areexplores the growth of the human-animalconnection. In chapters on children's emotional ties to their pets, the cognitive challenges of animal contacts, animal symbols as building blocks of the self, and pointless cruelty to animals, Melson shows how children's innateinterest in animals is shaped by their families and their social worlds, and may in turn shape the kind of people they will become.

As [Melson] amply demonstrates, young people often seem to have a closer relationship with their pets than they do with their parents...Children, she suggests, may even understand animals better than they understandadult humans, since animals' behavior is simple and straightforward. It...may come as a surprise to some readers just how unexplored this area of child development is...This perceptive, ground breaking account sheds valuable new lighton a fascinating subject.

[A] fascinating new book...Melson says the child-animal connection is underresearched, underestimated, and underutilized. It's not that every child needs a pet, but every child benefits from exposure to animals, shesays, whether it's fish in a bowl, pigeons in a park, or zebras at the zoo.

[Why the Wild Things Are] draws on psychological research, history and children's media over a 10-year period to examine youngsters' connections to animals and how theirexperiences may shape them as adults. The book also explains how caring for pets helps children develop nurturing skills...Caring for a pet is a gender-neutral responsibility and can be especially valuable for boys who may feel, rightlyor wrongly, that other forms of nurturing compromise their masculinity.

A particular animal book recently printed is worth sharing with you. Gail Melson's Why the Wild Things Arewon't teach you why elephants weep or why cats paint. But Melson, aprofessor of child development at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., will give you fascinating insights into how kids interact with pets, wildlife and livestock.

Whether they see themselves as King of the Wild Things or protector of Toto, children live in a world filled with animals--both real and imaginary. From Black Beauty to Barney, animal characters romp through children's books, cartoons, videos, and computer games. As Gail Melson tells us, more than three-quarters of all children in America live with pets and are now more likely to grow up with a pet than with both parents. She explores not only the therapeutic power of pet-owning for children with emotional or physical handicaps but also the ways in which zoo and farm animals, and even certain purple television characters, become confidants or teachers for children--and sometimes, tragically, their victims.

Yet perhaps because animals are ubiquitous, what they really mean to children, for better and for worse, has been unexplored territory. Why the Wild Things Are is the first book to examine children's many connections to animals and to explore their developmental significance. What does it mean that children's earliest dreams are of animals? What is the unique gift that a puppy can give to a boy? Drawing on psychological research, history, and children's media, Why the Wild Things Are explores the growth of the human-animal connection. In chapters on children's emotional ties to their pets, the cognitive challenges of animal contacts, animal symbols as building blocks of the self, and pointless cruelty to animals, Melson shows how children's innate interest in animals is shaped by their families and their social worlds, and may in turn shape the kind of people they will become.

Gail F. Melsonis Professor of Child Development and Family Studies at <>Purdue University.

Introduction

1. Animals and the Study of Children

2. Reaching across the Divide

3. Love on Four Legs

4. Learning from Animals

5. The Healing Lick

6. Animal Selves

7. Victims and Objects

8. Deepening the Animal Connection

Notes Index