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Most parents assume children’s animal stories are harmless fun and help them learn.

But psychologists in Canada claim Winnie the Pooh and Rupert Bear are actually BAD for children’s learning... because animals don’t talk or wear human clothes in real life.

The controversial study suggests books which feature animals with human characteristics lead to “less factual learning” among children aged five and under.

Researchers from Toronto University’s Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development said children need to read more books about the natural world.

Psychologist Professor Patricia Ganea says: “Children’s books that feature talking animals, or animals displaying other human characteristics, like wearing clothes, lead to less realistic understandings of the natural world.

“‘Such books not only inhibit specific, factual learning but also interfere with children’s abstract thinking and conceptual reasoning about animals.”

Right...

It all sounds a bit animal crackers to us.

So here’s our guide to the stars of top 10 talking animal tales... and what they helps us teach our kids.