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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132 Items found Print
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Adventures of Jimmy Skunk
by Thornton W. Burgess, illustrated by Harrison Cady
1920 Printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Reddy Fox
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #5
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, edited by Ann McGovern
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by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
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by Aesop
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by Aesop, illustrated by Heidi Holder
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Angelina and Alice
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Angelina's Baby Sister
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
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Angelina's Birthday
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Armadillo from Amarillo
by Lynne Cherry
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by Jean De Brunhoff
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Babar's Picnic
by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated by Merle Haas
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Baby Sister for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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by William Pene du Bois
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by Russell Hoban
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Bedtime for Francis
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
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Ben and Me
by Robert Lawson
from Little, Brown & Company
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Best Friends for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Big Book of Animal Stories
by Thornton W. Burgess
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Brave Davy Coon
by Laurence Hyde
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by Ruth Belov Gross
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Catwings Return
A Catwings Tale Book 2
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Charlie at the Zoo
by Marcus Pfister
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Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Curious George Flies a Kite
by Margret Rey
from Weekly Reader
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Day the Goose Got Loose
by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
First Scholastic Printing April 1993 from Scholastic Inc.
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Day with Whisker Wickles
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Dear Friends
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Dear Peter Rabbit
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Delver's Danger
Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection
by Susan Thompson-Hoffman, illustrated by Eileen Major Buzzanco
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Detective Dinosaur
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Doctor De Soto Goes to Africa
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Doctor Dolittle and the Pirates
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Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
by Eric Carle
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Elephant's Child
by Rudyard Kipling
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Elmer and the Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
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Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
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Farfallina & Marcel
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Frog and Toad Are Friends
An I Can Read Book Level 2 (Reading with Help)
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1971 Caldecott Honor Book
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Frog and Toad Are Friends
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1971 Caldecott Honor Book
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George and Martha Back in Town
by James Marshall
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George and Martha Encore
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George and Martha Rise and Shine
by James Marshall
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George and Martha Tons of Fun
by James Marshall
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Great Big Elephant & the Very Small Elephant
by Barbara Seuling
from Crown Publishers
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Great Rescue Operation
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Puffin Books
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Grouchy Uncle Otto
by Alice Bach, illustrated by Steven Kellog
from HarperCrest
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Happy Day
by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Marc Simont
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Harvey's Hideout
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Parents Magazine Press
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Harvey's Hideout
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Four Winds Press
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Hippo Lemonade
by Mike Thaler
WRBC from HarperCollins
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Horton Hears a Who!
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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House on East 88th Street
by Bernard Waber
from Trumpet Club
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I'm Not Moving, Mama!
by Nancy White Carlstrom, Illustrated by Thor Wickstrom
from Macmillan
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If You Give a Moose a Muffin
by Laura Numeroff
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Infamous Ratsos: Project Fluffy
by Kara LaReau, Illustrated by Matt Myers
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Invisible Moose
by Dennis Haseley, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
from Dial Books for Young Readers
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Just a Little Bit
from Houghton Mifflin
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Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling
from Crescent Books
for 1st-6th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Safaya Salter
from Henry Holt and Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Joseph M. Gleeson
from Book-of-the-Month Club
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Katy No-Pocket
by Emmy Payne, illustrated by H. A. Rey
from Weekly Reader
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lamb And The Butterfly
by Arnold Sundgaard
from Scholastic Inc.
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Little Whistle's Dinner Party
by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Tim Bowers
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Lovable Lyle
by Bernard Waber
from Scholastic Inc.
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Lyle at the Office
by Bernard Waber
from Houghton Mifflin
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Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes
by Phyllis Krasilovsky; illustrated by Barbara Cooney
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$1.50 (1 in stock)
Marzipan Pig
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Quentin Blake
from New York Review of Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mercy Watson Fights Crime
by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Library Binding from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Mercy Watson to the Rescue
by Kate DiCamillo
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-3rd grade
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
Misoso
by Verna Aardema
illustrated edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Miss Bianca
by Margery Sharp
from Yearling
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in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$1.50 (4 in stock)
Miss Bianca in the Orient
by Margery Sharp
from Yearling
for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines
by Margery Sharp
from Yearling
for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
More About Paddington
by Michael Bond
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire!
by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
from Schwartz & Wade
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Sipple and the Naughty Princess
by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler, illustrated by Richard E. Martin
from Follett
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
New Shoes
from First Second
for Preschool-4th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Old Mother West Wind - Audio Book on CD
by Thornton W. Burgess, narrated by Laurie Anne Walden
from St. Clare Audio
for 1st-4th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Olivia Forms a Band
by Ian Falconer
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Olivia Saves the Circus
by Ian Falconer
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$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)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Paddington Abroad
by Michael Bond, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum
Book Club Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Paddington Marches On
by Michael Bond
Book Club Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Patrick's Dinosaurs
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Donald Carrick
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Pegasus
by Marianna Mayer & K. Y. Craft
1st ed from Morrow Eagle
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Perfect Present
by Michael Hague
1st edition from Morrow Junior Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Poppleton
Poppleton #1 of 5
by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Mark Teague
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy
by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Rainbow Fish
by Marcus Pfister
from North-South Books
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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$18.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Ralph S. Mouse
Mouse & the Motorcycle #3
by Beverly Cleary
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.40 (2 in stock)
Ralph S. Mouse
Mouse & the Motorcycle #3
by Beverly Cleary, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Rat-Catcher's Son
by Carolyn London
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 1st-3rd grade
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Rat-Catcher's Son
by Carolyn London
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 1st-3rd grade
$3.50 (3 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
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (6 in stock)
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