An innovative look at multispecies coexistence through fairy tales and picturebook illustration.
Animals in fairy tales are often regarded as symbolic representations or anthropomorphic characters rather than nonhuman beings who experience the world differently from humans. Yet as we globally reimagine multispecies coexistence, the study of the fairy tale necessarily calls our attention to more-than-human storyworlds that frame animals as agents, depict human-animal conflicts and kinship, and portray interspecies transformation. Analysis of visual representations of animals in familiar stories such as "Little Red Riding Hood" as well as lesser-known Indigenous tales by artists and illustrators from North America, Japan, Brazil, and Britain provide insights into diverse ways of reimagining animals and human-animal relations. This innovative study places multispecies entanglements, fairy-tale studies, and art at the forefront of conversations on the mutual survival and well-being of our planet's inhabitants.