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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"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth
by Eric Carle
from World of Eric Carle
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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
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Angelina and the Princess
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Angelina's Baby Sister
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Armadillo from Amarillo
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Ask Mr. Bear
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Babar and His Children / Tale of Benjamin Bunny
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Babar and His Children OSI
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Bargain for Frances
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
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Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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Berenstain Bears' Dollars and Sense
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Come and Have Fun
by Edith Thacher Hurd, illustrated by Clement Hurd
1990 Reprint from HarperCrest
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Day with Whisker Wickles
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Dear Peter Rabbit
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Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
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Dooryard Stories
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Ellison the Elephant with Dramatized Audio CD
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Fables
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
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Fables
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
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Happy Day
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Hat
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Animal Stories: Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Hedgie's Surprise
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Hello, Red Fox
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Hot Air
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2006 Caldecott Honor Book
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I'm Not Moving, Mama!
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Invisible Moose
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Jamberry
by Bruce Degen
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Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Bruce Degen
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Kermit the Hermit
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Koala Lou
by Mem Fox, illustrated by Pamela Lofts
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Library Lion
by Michelle Knudsen
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Little Whistle
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Tim Bowers
from Harcourt
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Little Whistle's Dinner Party
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Lost in the Woods
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Lyle at the Office
by Bernard Waber
from Houghton Mifflin
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Misoso
by Verna Aardema
illustrated edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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Mitten
by Jan Brett
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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Mouse Tales
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
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Mr. Sipple and the Naughty Princess
by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler, illustrated by Richard E. Martin
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Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
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New Shoes
from First Second
for Preschool-4th grade
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Olivia - Board Book
by Ian Falconer
from Atheneum
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Olivia Saves the Circus
by Ian Falconer
from Simon and Schuster
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Once a Mouse
by Marcia Brown
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1962 Caldecott Medal Winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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One Silver Second
by Daphne Doward Hogstrom, illustrated by Gordon Laite
Stated First Printing from Rand McNally
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$16.00 (1 in stock)
Patrick's Dinosaurs
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Donald Carrick
from Clarion Books
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Piggins
by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Jane Dyer
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
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Piggins and the Royal Wedding
by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Jane Dyer
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Poky Little Puppy
by Janette Sebring Lowrey & Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Books
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$5.09 $2.40 (2 in stock)
Poppleton
Poppleton #1 of 5
by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Mark Teague
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Poppleton and Friends
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague
from Scholastic Inc.
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Princess Gorilla and a New Kind of Water
by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Victoria Chess
from Dial Books for Young Readers
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy
by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from William Morrow & Company
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$4.00 (3 in stock)
Quick Chick
Puffin Easy-To-Read Level 1
by Julia Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
from Puffin Books
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Rainbow Rhino
by Peter Sis
from Dragonfly Books
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Rooster, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen
by Nova Nestrick (editor), illustrated by Bonnie & Bill Rutherford and Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for Nursery-2nd grade
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$7.64 $3.60 (5 in stock)
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
from Macmillan
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Runaway Bunny
by Margaret Brown & Clement Hurd
from HarperCollins
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$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Runaway Bunny
by Margaret Brown & Clement Hurd
from HarperCollins
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Sheep in a Shop
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Houghton Mifflin
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Sheep in a Shop
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Trumpet Club
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Sheep Out to Eat
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Trumpet Club
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Shrewbettina's Birthday
by John S. Goodall
1973 Printing from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
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$15.20 (1 in stock)
Story of Babar / Heidi
by Jean de Brunhoff, translated by Merle S. Haas, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, adapted by Florence Hayes and illustrated by Erika Weihs
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
by William Steig
from Simon and Schuster
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1970 Caldecott Medal winner
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$7.64 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Tailor of Gloucester
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Tailor of Gloucester/ How the Leopard Got His Spots and Other Stories
by Beatrix Potter (Tailor); Rudyard Kipling (Leopard)
from Grolier Society
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Book 4
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Book 2
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Tales from a Poultry Farm
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Living Book Press
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in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$6.79 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Tales From Fern Hollow: The Tortoise Fair
Tales From Fern Hollow
by John Patience
from Derrydale Books
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Tales of Peter Rabbit and the Flopsy Bunnies
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Tenrec's Twigs
by Bert Kitchen
from Philomel Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Thank You, Brother Bear
by Hans Baumann; illustrated by Eric Carle
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
Travels of Babar OSI
by Jean de Brunhoff
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Travels of Babar/ Tale of Peter Rabbit
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit)
from Grolier Society
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Trubloff / Petunia, I Love You
by Roger Duvoisin
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
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