The nonhuman world and perspective in children’s literature are by necessity
created by human narrators, which makes human perspectives an inseparable part
of the narrative. However, while being human constructions, these narratives have
the potential to eliminate the centrality of human perspectives and foreground
nonhuman voices, as they are intended to align with the worldview of their target
audiences. In this sense, this article analyzes how children’s and nonhuman
viewpoints converge in children’s literature from the 20th-century through an
ecocritical framework. A significant part of this article is devoted to analyzing
Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) and Theodor Seuss Geisel’s The
Lorax (1971) in how narratives dominated by nonhuman perspectives challenge the
Anthropocene and thereby promote environmental consciousness and ethical
engagement with the nonhuman realm among young readers. Methodologically, the
study employs close textual and multimodal analysis to examine how
anthropomorphic figures, nonhuman narrative voice, and visual–verbal storytelling
techniques contribute to ecocentric representation and portray the more-than-human
world as an eyewitness to and victim of human destruction of nature. By studying
the verbal and visual representations of the natural world through the perspectives
of beings most deeply affected by destructive human activities, this study explores
the exclusionary aspect of human-centered narratives and stresses the significance
of inclusive environmental perspectives