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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Adventures of Jimmy Skunk
by Thornton W. Burgess, illustrated by Harrison Cady
1920 Printing from Little, Brown & Company
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Aesop's Fables
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Aesop's Fables
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All the Mowgli Stories
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by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Richard M. Powers
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Animal Stories
by Joel Chandler Harris, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
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Animal Stories
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Babar the King
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Baby Sister for Frances
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
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Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
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Bedtime for Frances
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Bellmaker
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Bonjour, Babar!
by Jean De Brunhoff, introduction by Kevin Henkes
from Random House
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
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by Joel Chandler Harris, Jane S. Shaw
1st edition from Collins
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Bunnicula
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by James Howe
2nd edition from Atheneum
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
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Burgess Animal Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
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by Thornton W. Burgess
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Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Lynd Ward
First Edition from Simon and Schuster
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
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by E. B. White
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Cheshire Cheese Cat
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Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
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Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
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$32.00
Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh
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Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
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Cricket in Times Square
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Animal Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1961 Newbery Honor Book
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Crickwing
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Delver's Danger
Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
Digging-est Dog
by Al Perkins
from Random House
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$9.99
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2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$19.99
Doctor Dolittle Complete Collection
by Hugh Lofting
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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by Carolyn Haywood
10th printing, 1968 from William Morrow & Company
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7th printing, 1968 from William Morrow & Company
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Ember Rising
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Flotsam
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2007 Caldecott Medal winner
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1971 Caldecott Honor Book
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from Candlewick Press
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Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 5
by C. S. Lewis
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Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
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Horton Hears a Who!
by Dr. Seuss
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
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2006 Caldecott Honor Book
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House at Pooh Corner
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from Dutton Children's Books
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
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Infamous Ratsos: Project Fluffy
by Kara LaReau, Illustrated by Matt Myers
from Candlewick Press
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Into the Jungle
by Katherine Rundell, Illustrated by Kristjana S. Williams
from Walker Books
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$24.99
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by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Safaya Salter
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Just So Stories
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Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (adapted)
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Kenny & the Dragon
by Tony DiTerlizzi
First Edition from Simon and Schuster
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Magician's Nephew
by C. S. Lewis
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Magician's Nephew
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Marzipan Pig
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Mercy Watson Fights Crime
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Mercy Watson to the Rescue
by Kate DiCamillo
1st edition from Candlewick Press
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Misoso
by Verna Aardema
illustrated edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mistmantle Chronicles Book 1
by M. I. McAllister
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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Mistmantle Chronicles Book 2
by M. I. McAllister
from Miramax Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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Mistmantle Chronicles Book 5
by M. I. McAllister
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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Mitten
by Jan Brett
Rei/Cas from Putnam Juvenile
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
More About Paddington
by Michael Bond
from Houghton Mifflin
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Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire!
by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
from Schwartz & Wade
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from HarperCollins
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1963 Caldecott Honor Book
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My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #1
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett and Helena Perez Garcia
from Bushel & Peck
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #1
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
from Dover Publications
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
My World of Color
by Magaret Wise Brown
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
New Shoes
from First Second
for Preschool-4th grade
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$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Once a Mouse
by Marcia Brown
from Atheneum
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1962 Caldecott Medal Winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
2013 Newbery Award Winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Paddington Abroad
by Michael Bond, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum
Book Club Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Paddington At Large
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
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$9.99
Paddington Helps Out
by Michael Bond
Revised from HarperCollins
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Paddington Here and Now
Paddington Bear #12
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Paddington Marches On
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
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$9.99
Paddington Marches On
by Michael Bond
Book Club Edition from Houghton Mifflin
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Paddington Races Ahead
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
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$9.99
Paddington Takes the Test
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Paddington Treasury
by Michael Bond, illustrated by R. W. Alley
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
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$27.99
Paddington's Finest Hour
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Paddington's Garden
A Paddington Picture Book
by Michael Bond, illustrated by Fred Banbery
from Random House
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
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by Marianna Mayer & K. Y. Craft
1st ed from HarperCollins
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$17.99
Periwinkle
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Picnic
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Poppy and Rye
Poppy Stories #3
by Avi
1st edition from HarperCollins
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 3rd-5th grade
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$9.99
Prince Caspian
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-12th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Prince Caspian
Chronicles of Narnia Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from Macmillan
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
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Puppy Who Wanted a Boy
by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from William Morrow & Company
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Rudyard Kipling Storybook
Thrushwood Book
by Rudyard Kipling
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by Graeme Base
First Edition from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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