Animal Stories: Realistic

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Realistic animal stories are usually more about the humans involved than about the animals. This isn't always true (London's Call of the Wild is a notable exception), but anyone who's read The Yearling, James Herriot's 5-volume memoir, or most of Marguerite Henry's books knows that the main characters are people, and the animals are the primary concern of those characters.

That's not to suggest that the animals are incidental, just that what readers are supposed to take away aren't simply facts about horses or dogs, but what all good literature offers, insight and commentary on the human condition. The reason we like stories involving animals so much is that humans and their furry companions are able to forge unique bonds predicated on innocence and loyalty that rarely exist in strictly human relationships.

What sets realistic animal stories apart from fantasy animal stories is that the animals in them are real animals, not talking, clothes-wearing, pipe-smoking people in animal costumes. Dogs bark, horses gallop, cows give birth to calves (it happens a lot in Yorkshire, apparently), and the world is very much as we experience and know it to be.

Children are particularly drawn to these stories, not because they like animals more than adults do, but because their imaginations still recognize everything as fair game. Animal tales show the world from an often unfamiliar perspective, and the appeal is especially great for those whose own perspective is still largely unformed.

A lot of these make great read-alouds for really young kids, or good books for budding readers to practice on their own. Just because they're in the kids' fiction section doesn't mean they're only intended for children, either, and plenty of adults are still as much into animal novels as they were thirty years ago. Our selection is intentionally broad, and steadily growing—we may or may not be included in that last group.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and 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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Animal Stories: Realistic

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	Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo from Candlewick Press Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade 2001 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $3.20 (1 in stock)
	Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo Updated from Candlewick Press Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade 2001 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Holiday House Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Holiday House Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $15.29
	Black Beauty Puffin Classics by Anna Sewell from Puffin Books Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.64
	Black Beauty Sterling Classics by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Scott McKowen Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co. Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.50 (1 in stock)
	Black Beauty Illustrated Junior Library Series 3 by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Dinah Dryhurst from Breslich & Foss Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Black Stallion Black Stallion #1 by Walter Farley from Yearling Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.64 $3.20 (2 in stock)
	Call of the Wild Dover Thrift Editions by Jack London from Dover Publications Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $3.00
	Call of the Wild by Jack London, illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin & Charles Livingston Bull from SeaWolf Press Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $8.49
	Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Animal Fiction for 2nd-5th grade 1952 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.79
	Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion from HarperCollins Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.49
	Hurry Home, Candy by Meindert DeJong & Maurice Sendak from HarperCollins Realistic Animal Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1954 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Jungle Book Puffin Classics by Rudyard Kipling from Puffin Books Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.64
	Jungle Book Sterling Classics by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Scott McKowen from Sterling Publishing Co. Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Jungle Book Books of Wonder by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney from William Morrow & Company Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Earl Mayan from Grosset & Dunlap Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Jungle Book Calla Editions by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Maurice and Edward Detmold from Dover Publications Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Nicola Bayley from Candlewick Press Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade 1946 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.79
	Lad of Sunnybank by Albert Payson Terhune from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Lad of Sunnybank by Albert Terhune from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Lad: A Dog by Albert Terhune from Puffin Books Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.64
	Lad: A Dog by Albert Terhune from Living Book Press Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey from Puffin Books Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade 1942 Caldecott Medal winner in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $9.34
	Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey from Viking Press Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade 1942 Caldecott Medal winner in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $16.99
	Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade 1948 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade 1948 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.79 $3.20 (2 in stock)
	My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara from HarperCollins Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $14.44
	My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara from J.B. Lippincott Co. Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara from J.B. Lippincott Co. Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Rascal Memoir of a Better Era by Sterling North from Puffin Books Biography for 4th-8th grade 1964 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.64
	Rascal Memoir of a Better Era by Sterling North from Puffin Books Biography for 4th-8th grade 1964 Newbery Honor Book in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
	Scout: The Flying Phantom Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $9.31
	Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack from Grosset & Dunlap Animal Realistic for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $5.09
	Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls from Bantam Books Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.64

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