Welcome to the Land of Hungry Mutt

We at Hungry Mutt have a vision: To create a land of characters and stories to entertain and inspire children. And to take a bite out of the growing violence in children’s books and media.

Walt Disney said strong conflicts are the necessary ingredients for stories. Without them, stories wouldn’t be stories. In the Land of Hungry Mutt, however, characters seek to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence – unlike Mowgli, the protagonist in Disney’s The Jungle Book, who ties a burning branch to the tiger’s tail.

It’s been said that children are our most endangered species. The American Academy of Pediatrics has said that exposing children to violence makes them more prone to aggression, bullying, fear and depression. A landmark study by the University of Michigan found that children see 200,000 acts of violence before turning 18, and that was before the dawn of technologies like tablets and gaming platforms. Now, with the advent of interactive first-person shooter games, the Academy of Family Physicians has warned that players are turned into “virtual perpetrators.”

Hungry Mutt seeks to buck this trend by deglamorizing violence, sparking children’s creativity, encouraging them to think outside the box.

Media goliaths – given their penchant for presenting violence as fun and exciting – are more interested in profits than children. Multiple studies have documented how media violence influences children’s character, their choices, who they aspire to be, what values they hold, what they believe, how they resolve conflicts. 

Hungry Mutt is committed to being a watchdog and advocate for children, sniffing out and promoting good children’s books, films and games. All in an attempt to make their world a little more kind and a little less violent. Day by day. As best we can.

Yours truly,

Hungry Mutt

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