thingtodo,butswitchtheirtails,eatgrassandmoo.”^1 British
books, like The Farm in the best-selling Ladybird series,
conveythesameimpressionofruralsimplicity,showingthe
henrunningfreelyinanorchardwithherchicks,andallthe
otheranimalslivingwiththeiroffspringinspaciousquarters.^2
With this kind of early reading it is not surprising that
childrengrowupbelievingthatevenifanimals“must”dieto
providehumanbeingswithfood,theylivehappilyuntilthat
time comes.
Recognizingtheimportanceoftheattitudesweform when
young,thefeministmovementhassucceededinfosteringthe
growth of a new children’s literature, in which brave
princessesoccasionallyrescuehelplessprinces,andgirlsplay
thecentral,activerolesthatusedtobereservedforboys.To
alterthestories aboutanimals thatwereadtoourchildren
willnotbesoeasy,sincecrueltyisnotanidealsubjectfor
children’sstories.Yetitshouldbepossibletoavoidthemost
gruesomedetails, and stillgivechildren picture booksand
stories that encourage respect for animals as independent
beings, and not as cute little objects that exist for our
amusementandtable;andaschildrengrowolder,theycanbe
madeawarethatmostanimalsliveunderconditionsthatare
notvery pleasant.Thedifficultywillbethat nonvegetarian
parentsaregoingtobereluctanttolettheirchildrenlearnthe
fullstory,forfearthatthechild’saffectionforanimalsmay
disruptfamilymeals.Evennow,onefrequentlyhearsthat,on
learning thatanimals arekilledto providemeat, afriend’s
childhasrefusedto eatmeat.Unfortunatelythis instinctive
rebellion is likely to meet strong resistance from
nonvegetarianparents,andmostchildrenareunabletokeep
uptheirrefusalinthefaceofoppositionfromparentswho
provide their meals and tell them