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Animal Stories

There aren't too many kids who don't like animals, which makes stories about them a great way to communicate truths about human nature to young readers. All kinds of animal stories have been written, and a lot of them are just about animals doing animal-y things, but some of the best aren't really about animals at all.

The Wind in the Willows, for instance—sure, Ratty and Mole have whiskers, and Badger is as grumpy as any badger whose hole does not include a well-stocked library, but they're essentially human characters with human emotions and human ambitions who grow the way humans ought. Even Mr. Toad is no more animal than Oliver Twist or Laura Ingalls.

Okay, you might say, but that's not really an animal story, then. What about Black Beauty? or Bambi? They're written from the perspective of real animals who don't talk (at least, not to people) or wear clothes or eat buttered toast; how can they be about human nature?

In the case of Black Beauty, the horse narrator has a surprisingly firm grasp of human emotion, and understands the behavior of her owners to an extent many homo sapiens would not. As for Bambi, while he acts like a real deer, he's also sentient and able to have relationships with his fellow forest animals that closely resemble those enjoyed by members of the human race.

Another kind of animal story is really about people, and simply uses animals as the hook, or as a foil for the humans in the story. The Black Stallion or Billy and Blaze books, for instance, are more about the boy heroes than the horses, though the bond between animal and rider is also explored. Jim Kjelgaard's dog stories are similar, chronicling the adventures of boys with their beloved dogs.

As with any genre, animal stories should be read primarily to be enjoyed. It is only then that the deep wisdom found in the best of them can speak to us as readers, can open up our minds and hearts to see more than just furry or scaly creatures do things they may or may not do in the real world. Besides, who's to say there isn't a talking monkey or cat somewhere in the real world? As far as books are part of the real world, there are plenty such animals, and plenty of opportunities to meet and be changed by them.

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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Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Hardcover
ABC Bunny
by Wanda Gág
from University of Minnesota
Word Books for 1st-3rd grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$14.95
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 Tim
by Edward Ardizzone
from Chancellor Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Book Treasuries (Location: PIC-TRE)
$50.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop for Children
by Aesop
1st edition from Checkerboard Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Aesop, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fables for 2nd-6th grade
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Randolph Caldecott, Arthur Rackham, Walter Crane, and Alexander Calder
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, retold & illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
1st Ed. from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Heidi Holder
1st edition from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, retold by Anna Milbourne and illustrated by Linda Edwards
from Usborne
for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Harry Rountree
from Gallery Books
for 3rd-9th grade
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Aesop, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fables for 2nd-6th grade
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.99
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, retold by Anne Terry White, illustrated by Helen Siegl
from California State Department of Education
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Album of Dogs
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Album of Horses
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Album of Horses
by Marguerite Henry
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Album of Horses
by Marguerite Henry
from Aladdin Books
Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-7th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$24.99
All the Mowgli Stories
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Richard M. Powers
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Anatole and the Toyshop
by Eve Titus, illustrated by Paul Galdone
from McGraw-Hill
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1958 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Animal Heroes
by Ernest Lloyd
from Pacific Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Animal Stories
by Joel Chandler Harris, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 2nd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Animal Stories
by Edited by Walter de la Mare
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Animal Story Book
Young Folks Library
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
April's Kittens
by Clare Turlay Newberry
from Harper & Brothers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1941 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Armstrong
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$21.95
Baaa
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Babar the King
by Jean de Brunhoff
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.95
Babar, To Duet or Not to Duet
by Elaine Waisglass
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bambi's Children
by Felix Salten, illustrated by Erna Pinner
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bambi's Children
by Felix Salten, illustrated by Kurt Wiese
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
50th Anniversary Edition from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Beaver Pond
by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from Unknown Publisher
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Belling the Tiger
by Mary Stolz, illustrated by Beni Montresor
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
1962 Newbery Honor Book
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Bellmaker
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Bernard Into Battle
by Margery Sharp, illustrated by Leslie Morrill
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bernard the Brave
by Margery Sharp, illustrated by Leslie Morrill
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bhimsa, the Dancing Bear
by Christine Weston, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
1946 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Big Goose and the Little White Duck
by Meindert DeJong, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell
from Parragon Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by John Beer
from Barnes & Noble
for 3rd-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Lucy Kemp-Welch
2000 reprint from State Street Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Blind Colt
Weekly Reader
by Glen Rounds
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Blind Colt
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Blind Colt
A World Famous Horse Story Library selection
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Blossom Comes Home
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1949 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bonjour, Babar!
by Jean De Brunhoff, introduction by Kevin Henkes
from Random House
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bonny's Big Day
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Bony
by Frances Zweifel; illustrated by Whitney Darrow, Jr.
from Harper & Row
for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bounce and the Bunnies
by Ruth Carroll
2nd edition from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox
by Joel Chandler Harris, Jane S. Shaw
1st edition from Collins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon (pictorial hardcover)
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
Second Edition, 25th Anniversary Edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Brown Sunshine of Sawdust Valley
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Bonnie Shields
from Simon and Schuster
Animal Stories: Realistic for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bruce
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bubo: The Great Horned Owl
by John L. and Jean George, illustrated by Jean George
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bunnicula
Bunnicula #1
by James Howe
2nd edition from Atheneum
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Burgess Animal Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Lynd Ward
First Edition from Simon and Schuster
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
Champion Dog Prince Tom
Weekly Reader Children's Book Club
by Jean Fritz and Tom Clute, Illustrated by Ernest Hart
from Coward McCann
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Collectors from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Chee-Lin: A Giraffe's Journey
by James Rumford
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cheshire Cheese Cat
by Carmen Agra Deedy, Randall Wright
1st edition from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Chief Takes Over
by Helen Rushmore, Illustrated by Charles Geer
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Christmas Day Kitten
by James Herriot
2nd edition from St. Martin's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cinnabar, the One O'Clock Fox
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit (adapted)
by Joel Chandler Harris, illustrated by Don Daily
from Running Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Don Daily
from Running Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.99
Complete Brambly Hedge
by Jill Barklem
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$24.99
Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$32.00
Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Conquista!
by Clyde Robert Bulla, Michael Syson
1st edition from Thomas Crowell
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1961 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Crickwing
by Janell Cannon
1st edition from Harcourt Children's Books
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Critter and Other Dogs
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
CS: Call of the Wild
Classic Starts
by Jack London
Abridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Sterling Classic Starts (Location: SER-SCS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Animals
by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.95
Daddles
by Ruth Sawyer
from Little, Brown & Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Daring Dogs: 30 True Tales of Heroic Hounds
by Kimberlie Hamilton
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Delver's Danger
Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection
by Susan Thompson-Hoffman, illustrated by Eileen Major Buzzanco
from Trudy Corporation
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Digging-est Dog
by Al Perkins
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd Grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$9.99
Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
by Barbara Kerley
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
Doctor Dolittle Complete Collection
by Hugh Lofting
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Doctor Dolittle's Puddleby Adventures
Doctor Dolittle #15
by Hugh Lofting
from Weekly Reader
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Doctor Dolittle's Zoo
Doctor Dolittle #6
by Hugh Lofting
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Dog for Davie's Hill
by Clare Bice
from Macmillan
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Dog Named Chips
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dog Named Chips
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dog of Flanders and Other Stories
by Louise De La Ramee
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
ECL: Black Beauty
Educator's Classic Library
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Michael Rios
from Classic Press
for 3rd-7th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
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