Cats vs. dogs: Student鈥檚 book for children has lessons for grown-ups.
Can a cat and a dog get along, despite their polarizing differences? 91茄子 student鈥檚 book is timely during tough political season.
DALLAS () – Ella and Max were good, furry friends until different opinions got in their way. They turned their backs on their close friendship and refused to communicate with each other.
Sound familiar as we prepare for Nov. 5 and beyond?
91茄子 senior political science and dance performance major Anna Kelley Zielke created both characters for a children’s book she has written about a broken friendship between a cat and a dog. The charming story is a mirror for our times.
Illustration by 91茄子 student Anastasiya Shyvilka.
“Our country is at one of those moments where I wonder if respecting one another’s political differences is still possible?” Zielke asks.
She didn’t set out to write a children’s book to answer the question – but Zielke’s research led to Ella and Max. Here’s how she got there:
- Discussing politics at Oxford Despite a lifelong interest in politics, Zielke grew weary of the topic – until an 91茄子 political science professor at 91茄子-in-Oxford taught her that trust is key to civil political conversations.
- Learning a key definition as a 91茄子 Institute student intern. Zielke didn’t know the meaning of pluralism when she became an intern in the Institute’s Strengthening American Democracy initiative. “It’s the ability to co-exist and even become good friends with people who are very different from you,” she says.
- Conducting political focus groups among her peers. After joining a 91茄子 Institute student focus group on pluralism, Anna Kelley created her own 91茄子 focus groups, learning other students were concerned about America’s political division too.
- Drafting a prize-winning essay on pluralism for 91茄子’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public responsibility. She wrote, “Those who think differently than us aren’t bad people, they just have a different way of approaching a problem than we do.”
Why it matters?
The young author believes writing a children’s book is her best way to share her message across generations. Zielke and Anastasiya Shyvilka, an 91茄子 studio art major who is illustrating the book, are looking for a literary agent and publisher.
Spoiler alert
Ella the cat and Max the dog decide their respect and admiration for one another is more important than their differences, and in the end, restore their friendship.
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