Burlington Public Library

Because Clifford, the big red dog, imitates everything the boy does, he quickly makes a friend.

Big Bird enjoys spending the day doing whatever he sees anyone else doing, whether wagging his tail like a dog or being Grouchy like Oscar.

Cut-paper illustrations and single words of text show a kitten's attempts to imitate an adult cat's mastery of such skills as stretching and stalking.

Rhyming text relates the antics of monkeys that play all day.

Uniquely among animals, humans are capable of imitation and so can copy from one another ideas, habits, skills, behaviors, inventions, songs and stories. These are all memes, a term first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976. According to memetic theory, memes, like genes, are replicators, competing to get into as many brains as possible, and this memetic competition has fashioned our minds and culture, just as natural selection has designed our bodies....

Rhyming text encourages young readers to copy the actions of the main character, from rubbing a tummy to leaping in the air.

Mango the bird has a 'ginormous' bear friend named Blue. To Mango's annoyance, Blue copies everything Mango does. One day, Mango has had enough of Blue's copying and flies off in a huff. But once she's on her own, she finds herself thinking only of Blue.

The only time Grace can get away from her little sister, who copies her every move, is when she goes to swimming class.

Illustrations and text tell a story about Hunter the Racoon who enjoys playing with his big sister, Glenna, except when she's bossy.