Animal Stories: Fantasy

If your dog put on trousers and brought you the morning paper and a cup of coffee, you probably wouldn't accept them quietly and start reading the sports page. While most characters in literature who encounter talking animals aren't that nonchalant about it, they seem a lot more accepting of bizarre phenomena than most real people would be. Is it just because they're characters in books? or is it because animals actually have quite a bit to tell us about human nature and the realities of the world we occupy?

There are real-life precedents for talking animals—parrots can speak, crows can acquire human vocabularies, and Balaam's donkey carried on a conversation with the reluctant prophet. Granted, birds with the vocal capacity for imitative speech and supernaturally gifted pack animals aren't really in the same league, but you get the idea. Just because most animals don't talk doesn't mean none of them can.

We're not suggesting Narnia is a real place, or rabbits actually have detailed mythologies, at least not in the sense most people would use words like "real" and "actual." But there are books about Aslan, and there are books about Bigwig and Fiver, Matthias the Mouse, and Mr. Toad, and in that sense those places and characters are real and actual. More importantly, what they tell us about life itself (through their stories, not over afternoon tea) is often true and real and actual.

Basically, stories about animals who apparel themselves in anything other than their own skin and fur, animals that fight with swords instead of claws and teeth, animals who bake their food rather than eating it raw or off the ground, animals that speak (either to humans or each other)—any story we carry of this kind will be found here. While animal fantasy shouldn't displace all other reading, it's important to remember that, in the end, there's very little meaningful difference between a character like Tom Sawyer and one like Abel the Mouse.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas
from HarperCollins
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$16.99
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
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Angelina's Baby Sister
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
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Angelina's Birthday
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
First Edition from Pleasant Company Publications, Inc.
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Animal Orchestra
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Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes
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Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes
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$7.99
Babar and Father Christmas
by Jean De Brunhoff
1st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
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Babar and His Children
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Babar's Picnic
by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated by Merle Haas
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by N. D. Wilson, illustrated by Forrest Dickison
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Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes
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Charlie at the Zoo
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
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$32.00
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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by Margret Rey
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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by Barbara Kerley
from Scholastic Inc.
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2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$19.99
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by Al Perkins
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by Eric Carle
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by Holly Keller
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by Helen Palmer
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$9.99
Flotsam
by David Wiesner
from Clarion Books
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2007 Caldecott Medal winner
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by James Marshall
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by James Marshall
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George and Martha Tons of Fun
by James Marshall
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
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by Beatrix Potter
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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by Barbara Seuling
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by Russell & Lillian Hoban
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by Russell & Lillian Hoban
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by Laura Numeroff
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
by Laura Numeroff
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$17.99
If You Give a Pig a Pancake
by Laura Numeroff
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$17.99
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by Bernard Waber
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Mister Dog
by Margaret Wise Brown
from Western Publishing
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$5.99
New Shoes
from First Second
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$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Olivia
by Ian Falconer
from Atheneum
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
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$18.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Olivia Forms a Band
by Ian Falconer
from Atheneum
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Michael Bond, illustrated by R. W. Alley
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$17.99
Pegasus
by Marianna Mayer & K. Y. Craft
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Perfect Present
by Michael Hague
1st edition from Morrow Junior Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Piglet Named Mercy
Mercy Watson #0
by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
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$18.99
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$4.99
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by Erik Brooks
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$16.99
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by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from William Morrow & Company
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by Richard Scarry
50th Anniversary Edition from Golden Books
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by Richard Scarry
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by Erica Briers, illustrated by Stephanie Boey
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Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit
Book 20
by Beatrix Potter
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Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit
Book 20
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$6.99
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by Jean De Brunhoff
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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Story of Miss Moppet
Book 21
by Beatrix Potter
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Tailor of Gloucester
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$7.99
Tailor of Gloucester
by Beatrix Potter
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Book 4
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$7.99
Tale of Benjamin Bunny (abridged) - Pop-up Book
by Beatrix Potter (based on the story and art of)
from Paradise Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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Book 18
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$7.99
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Book 9
by Beatrix Potter
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$7.99
Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (abridged) - Pop-up Book
by Beatrix Potter (based on the story and art of)
from Paradise Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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Book 13
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$7.99
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Book 19
by Beatrix Potter
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$6.99
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Book 7
by Beatrix Potter
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$6.99
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Book 14
by Beatrix Potter
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Tale of Mr. Tod
Book 14
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$7.99
Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse
Book 11
by Beatrix Potter
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$6.99
Tale of Peter Rabbit
Book 1
by Beatrix Potter
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$7.99
Tale of Pigling Bland
Book 15
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$6.99
Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Book 2
by Beatrix Potter
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$7.99
Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
Book 10
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$7.99
Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan
Book 17
by Beatrix Potter
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$7.99
Tale of Timmy Tiptoes
Book 12
by Beatrix Potter
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$6.99
Tale of Tom Kitten
Book 8
by Beatrix Potter
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$7.99
Tale of Tom Kitten (abridged) - Pop-up Book
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tale of Two Bad Mice
Book 5
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$6.99
Three Bears in a Boat
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$17.99
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by Rosemary Wells
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Tops and Bottoms
by Janet Stevens
from Harcourt Children's Books
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1996 Caldecott Honor Book
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$17.99
Tuesday
by David Wiesner
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
1992 Caldecott Medal winner
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$17.99
Two Bad Ants
by Chris Van Allsburg
from Houghton Mifflin
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Uncle Wiggily Book
by Howard Garis
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
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by Howard Garis
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$10.00 (3 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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by Norman Rockwell
from Berkshire House Publishers
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$6.00 (1 in stock)