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Through exposure to the natural world, children gain experiences that allow them to develop a sense of connection to nature and its surrounding, hence shaping and impacting their thoughts, feelings, values and perspectives however, as the world progresses technologically, natural spaces are replaced by buildings, and organized man-made parks that attempt to capture the same substance as the forests. This creates a barrier for children as they lack connection with nature and prevents them from gaining experiences that they can benefit from. In this case, children’s literature is introduced to encourage children to be more involved and connected with their surroundings. Jupiter and The Cats, a non-fictional story written by author Alice E. Goudey illustrates the idea of a nostalgic urban childhood by utilizing animals to display a bond between childhood, nature and the city which remains a growing concern in the physical and mental development of children living in urbanized environments. By illustrating the lifestyle a small town and the friendly dog, the author portrays the relation between children and the natural world and how its impacts their growth and well-being.

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As mentioned above, through proper education, children can have the opportunity to encounter and explore the natural world on their own while learning to properly handle nature with care and respect. Education for animals refers to examining the “portrayal of animals and acknowledge the impact of stereotypical, negative or unrealistic portray of animals and the effect of these portrayals on children’s perceptions of animals and their relationship to animals.” (Born 52), which often occurs in children’s literacy. Jupiter shows characteristics that make him likeable as all the members of the town enjoy his company, the illustrator draws him in a way that makes him appear gentle ad amicable, especially by focusing on the shape of the eyes as it shapes his personality. In contrast, the cats display a melancholy atmosphere, indicating that they pose as a threat to Jupiter. On page 56-57, the illustrations show that Jupiter is anxious to sleep as the cats surround him and cease to leave. “Sometimes he could not sleep at all but sat in the doorway of his house watching the cat’s eye gleam in the darkness.” (Goudey 56), as described here, the cats all have a sinister look on their face, their eyes are grey and/or off-white due to it being nighttime which portrays a chilling image and creates a negative view of these cats that are merely there due to catnip. To prevent this, adults should refrain from imposing their personal opinions and assumptions regarding animals and nature so that children can explore them openly and develop their own thoughts regarding the animals and the proper method to do so is by educating them regarding the treatment of non-human creatures. On the other hand, education with animals means physically encountering wild and domestic animals, this allows children to witness the value of wildlife and acknowledge animals as a member of a community (Born 53) who are capable of certain human emotions hence allowing them to truly encounter nature and form an opinion based on personal experience.

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Connection between Childhood and Animals 

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Connection between Childhood and Animals 

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Childhood is a developmental phrase that heavily impacts a child’s mindset and personality, as they grow and learn more new things, they seek out to explore their surroundings which shapes their own self in the process. Patty Born’s Regarding Animals: A Perspective on the Importance of Animals in Early Childhood Environmental Education discusses the significant role animals, both wild and domestic, play in the development of children by focusing on the mental benefits they gain from these interactions. According to Born, by maintaining a relationship with animals, children develop empathy, their interactions provoke them to be curious towards animals while “ openly expressing their feelings and questions, practice caregiving and improve their confidence, social skills and cooperation.” (48). They are amazed by non-human living creatures which encourages them to explore animals and develop a sense of attachment towards them, this can help them later throughout their adolescent and adulthood years as the empathy and closeness developed from these encounters and relationships enable them to form and maintain a close relationship with others.

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The Impact of Literature Regarding the Connection Between Children and Animals 

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The Impact of Literature Regarding the Connection Between Children and Animals 

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Number of studies indicate that children’s view and judgement on animals is influenced by cultural factors, family perspective and the media’s portrayal of them (Born 50), this groups animals in three categories; animals that are domesticated and considered as house pets, animals belonging in the zoo and/or circus for people’s entertainment and lastly, animals belonging in the wilderness. This separation allows children to identity which animals they can freely interact with, resulting into cats, dogs, birds, rabbits and fish being the most commonly owned pets however, these divisions are not always beneficial. According to Born, these external factors, especially the portrayal of pets in children’s literature, can create a misrepresentation of certain animals which influences children’s judgement. In Jupiter and the Cats, adults respond positively to Jupiter and the author states that he is loved by everyone in the town (Goudey 3) however portrays the cats in a negative light based on her description of them therefore, it can be assumed that the author is not drawn to cats and prefers dogs. By doing so, the author creates a bias towards dogs and describes cats as the unfavorable animals which affects how children view them without having the opportunity to interact and bond with them. This is referred as a “human-animal-nature separation” (Born 51) which refers to a loss of connection with animals however, by educating them, it can be prevented.

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Children’s literature uses animals to connect them with nature as it provokes their curiosity and encourages them to learn more about animals which can lead to creating a connection with them. Jupiter is labelled as a gentle and pleasant animal who enjoys his simple life and does not cause any nuisance for the members of the town. Goudey’s description of Jupiter shows a positive judgement and portrays the common role of a dog as a “man’s best friend” which encourages children to play with animals and therefore, allows them to remain in touch with natural world. By creating characteristics for animals in the story, making them unique and interesting to children or portraying as a stereotype that is specific to the species itself such as the loyal dog, the feline, etc., it still represents these animals as creatures of nature who are in touch with their surroundings which describes the conflict children living in the city unknowingly deal with and the impact it has on their growth. According to Born, studies show that when children are exposed to nature, their academic growth, behaviour and stress level improves (47). As Raffi Cavoukian, the founder for Centre for Child Honouring mentioned, “Being around nature for kids is so important for their healthy development, for their equanimity, for their peacefulness.”, nature serves as a resource for a child’s connection to the world and the self which is something that the urban city does not provide children with. The connection that nature offers at an early age influences a child easily and it is most likely that they will keep that connection to the natural world and will continue to explore it, rather than exploit it however when children do not have the opportunity to personally explore nature and its characteristics, children’s books can create an idea of what nature is like. In BBC Earth’s video, Nature Makes you Happy, Professor Dacher Keltner confirms that viewing nature increases feelings of “joy, contentment, curiosity, amazement and wonder.”, it reduces stress especially amongst younger viewers, reduces tiredness and low energy while increasing the desire to explore nature which reveals that wildlife videos and book containing pictures of nature allow viewers to positively experience nature which affect their overall heath and well-being.

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The current generation is constantly exposed to advanced technology that impacts and perhaps shapes their childhood due to children being less motivated to go outside as they focus on the digital world more therefore, it is important to find ways to include nature in children’s daily life as it can develop a sense of attachment while developing some aspects of their personalities. Through including the natural world and animals in children’s literature, it can evoke interest that will encourage the younger generation to explore the wilderness and create a connection with it which helps them in the long run due to the mental and physical benefits provided by nature. Jupiter and The Cats successfully highlights the bond between human-animals relationships, human-nature relationships and animals-nature relationships as it displays the sense of belonging felt by Jupiter towards the members of the community and the sense of freedom he obtains through nature, such as the parks and the backyard which is his favourite spot, this allows children to positively judge Jupiter while encouraging them to connect with the natural world and uncover what it has to offer.