Download or read book Why the Wild Things Are written by Gail F. Melson and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to examine children's many connections to animals and to explore their developmental significance. Gail Melson looks not only at 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 television characters, become confidants or teachers for children--and sometimes, tragically, their victims.