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!"
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Arthur's Honey Bear
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Animal Fantasy for Nursery-1st grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Classic Tale of Peter Rabbit (abridged)
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Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit
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Curious George
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Encore for Eleanor
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
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by Arnold Lobel
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
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Farewell to Shady Glade
by Bill Peet
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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by Holly Keller
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
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Father Bear Comes Home
An I Can Read Book Level 1
by Else Minarik & Maurice Sendak
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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Father Bear Comes Home
An I Can Read Book Level 1
by Else Minarik & Maurice Sendak
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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Fire Cat
An I Can Read Book Level 1
by Esther Averill
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Fish is Fish
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Fish Out of Water
by Helen Palmer
from Random House
Animal Fantasy/Rhyming Stories for Nursery-1st grade
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$9.99
Flotsam
by David Wiesner
from Clarion Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
2007 Caldecott Medal winner
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$17.99
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
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$8.99
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
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Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
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$8.99
Frog and Toad - Complete Set
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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by Arnold Lobel
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$17.97
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by Margot Austin
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
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