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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Used Books & Materials

	Avenging the Owl by Melissa Hart from Sky Pony Press for 4th-7th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $4.80 (1 in stock)
	Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Yearling Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $3.50 (1 in stock)
	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 Macmillan Classics by Anna Sewell, illustrated by John Groth from Macmillan for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $9.60 (1 in stock)
	Black Gold by Marguerite Henry from Rand McNally for 4th-7th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.40 (1 in stock)
	Call of the Wild Puffin Classics by Jack London 2008^th edition from Puffin Books Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $9.34 $3.60 (1 in stock)
	Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck 1994 Printing from Random House Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck 1994 Printing from Dell Publishing Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Dogsong by Gary Paulsen from Simon and Schuster for 5th-8th grade 1986 Newbery Honor Book in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $7.64 $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Five True Dog Stories Five dogs you'll never forget by Margaret Davidson from Scholastic Inc. in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $4.24 $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Further Adventures of Lad by Albert Payson Terhune from Grosset & Dunlap for 4th-7th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $6.40 (1 in stock)
	Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji from Dutton Juvenile for 4th-9th grade 1928 Newbery Medal winner in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $11.20 (2 in stock)
	Hound-dog Man by Fred Gipson First Edition L-X from Harper & Brothers for 6th-9th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Julie of the Wolves "Julie" Trilogy Book 1 by Jean Craighead George from HarperCollins Adventure for 4th-8th grade 1973 Newbery Medal winner in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $9.00 (2 in stock)
	Julie of the Wolves "Julie" Trilogy Book 1 by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by John Schoenherr from HarperCollins Adventure for 4th-8th grade 1973 Newbery Medal winner in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Julie's Wolf Pack "Julie" Trilogy Book 3 by Jean Craighead George from HarperCollins Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $3.20 (1 in stock)
	Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George 1^st edition from HarperCollins for 4th-8th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $6.00 (2 in stock)
	Jungle Book (Permabound) 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) $6.40 (1 in stock)
	Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-7th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
	King of the Wind The Story of the Godolphin Arabian by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-7th grade 1949 Newbery Medal winner in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.79 $3.20 (1 in stock)
	King of the Wind The Story of the Godolphin Arabian by Marguerite Henry from Checkerboard Press Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-7th grade 1949 Newbery Medal winner in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Last Little Cat by Meindert DeJong Reprint from Avyx, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Living Free (abridged) by Joy Adams from Scholastic Inc. for 5th-7th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $1.60 (1 in stock)
	Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis from Rand McNally for 3rd-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $9.60 (1 in stock)
	Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis 1975 Renewed from Rand McNally for 3rd-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	National Velvet by Enid Bagnold from Avon Books Realistic Fiction for 4th-7th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $3.60 (1 in stock)
	Old Yeller by Fred Gipson from HarperCollins Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade 1957 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	On the Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George from Dutton Children's Books Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $6.40 (1 in stock)
	Outlaw Red by Jim Kjelgaard 1986 printing from Bantam-Skylark Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Rascal by Sterling North from Scholastic Inc. Biography for 4th-8th grade 1964 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Return of the Wolf by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, illustrated by Jared Taylor Williams from Clarion Books for 3rd-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $4.80 (1 in stock)
	Scout's Distant Journey Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $9.31 $5.60 (1 in stock)
	Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark from Viking Press for 4th-7th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $5.60 (1 in stock)
	Seven True Dog Stories by Margaret Davidson from Hastings House in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Shiloh Shiloh #1 by Phyllis R. Naylor from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 5th-8th grade 1992 Newbery Medal winner in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.64 $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Smoky the Cow Horse by Will James 1930 printing from Charles Scribner's Sons for 4th-7th grade 1927 Newbery Book in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Snow Dog by Jim Kjelgaard 1981 Edition from AB Publishing for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Snow Goose by Paul Gallico from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 7th-12th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $16.96 $11.20 (3 in stock)
	Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton from Living Book Press for 5th-8th grade in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS) $8.80 (1 in stock)

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