Introduction

Children have a close connection with the animal world and the elements of nature. Children's literature benefits from this and selects many characters and story settings from animals and elements of nature. On the other hand, animism is a prominent indicator of mythology that brings myth into the realm of children's literature by animating animals, elements of nature, and phenomena produced by humans. Kozikoglu and Farideh Farjam, among the writers in the field of children's literature, have used myths to express some of their ideas. This study attempts to answer the question: How are myths reflected in the stories of Tolin Kozikoglu and Farideh Farjam, and what human knowledge do they reflect for children?
 

Research Methodology

This article, using an analytical-descriptive approach and relying on library sources, examines how myth is reflected in the works of these two authors. The aim of this research is to examine how myth is reflected in the stories of Kozikoglu and the story of Farideh Farjam's Mehmane Nakhande. The aim is to compare the myths presented in the stories of these two authors and evaluate the degree of influence and impact.
 

Discuss

To answer these questions, the topic of animism has been considered as one of the important indicators of the knowledge of mythology. Animism, in the term, is the personalization of objects and beings and is usually discussed in three areas: 1- Characterization of animals, 2- Characterization of phenomena and elements of nature, 3- Characterization of phenomena that are the product of human hands (cf. Propp, 1997: 261 and 52). The story of the Mehmane Nakhande, written by Farideh Farjam, is a story that is a remnant of ancient legends that are several hundred years old. According to Kazazi, “legends can be cut out parts and raw motifs from mysterious and ancient ontological types that we call myths” (Kazazi, 1993: 5). In this folk narrative, we can witness the presence of animals and their characterization, as well as the use of elements of nature as part of myths. Farideh Farjam, since she introduces animals into the story in the form of humans and they can have human actions and their feelings and traits are similar to humans, is actually engaged in mythmaking. Talking to each other, a sense of cooperation, a sense of sympathy, and kindness are among these actions and feelings. The presence of "rain" in the story as an element of nature has doubled the mythical atmosphere of the story. In the stories of Kozikoglu, as a contemporary Turkish children's literature writer, the discussion of animism can also be seen. In these works, animals and elements of nature also have a mythical flavor. Human actions and human feelings are displayed in the form of animals through characterization. Animals in these works feel kindness, feel sad, and have a sense of responsibility towards each other. Elements such as "water" in Kozikoglu's stories reflect mythology in these works.
 

Conclusion

In this work, animals, like humans, have a sense of cooperation, are kind and understand love, and in general, feel like humans. This point shows how myth is presented in Kozikoglu's stories. In Kozikoglu's stories, mythology is mostly in the realm of animism of nature and animals. Fish and water are among the most important myths in these stories, reflecting the power of myths to change circumstances, to create existence, and to develop human emotions.