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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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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Avenel Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
$6.40 (1 in stock)
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)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Angelina and the Princess
Angelina Ballerina
by Katharine Holabird
Picture Books for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Angelina's Baby Sister
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Babar and His Children / Tale of Benjamin Bunny
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Beatrix Potter (Benjamin)
from Grolier Society
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Babar and His Children OSI
by Jean De Brunhoff
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Babar and Zephir / Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar) and Beatrix Potter (Squirrel Nutkin)
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Benjamin's Treasure
by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.40 (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)
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)
Bonny's Big Day
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 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)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Born Free
by Joy Adamson
Anniversary from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
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)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Bruce
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Buff: A Collie
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Bunnicula
Bunnicula #1
by James Howe
2nd edition from Atheneum
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Little, Brown & Company
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Charlie at the Zoo
by Marcus Pfister
from North-South Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Collectors from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.20 (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)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Chief Takes Over
by Helen Rushmore, Illustrated by Charles Geer
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Don Daily
from Running Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$11.04 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Cunning Little Vixen
by Rudolf Tesnohlidek
First Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Day with Whisker Wickles
by Cynthia Jameson, illustrated by James Marshall
from Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Dear Peter Rabbit
by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Leslie Tryon
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (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)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Duck for President
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Edward the Emu
by Sheena Knowles, illustrated by Rod Clement
Reprint from HarperTrophy
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Elephant's Child
by Rudyard Kipling
2nd Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Ellison the Elephant with Dramatized Audio CD
by Eric Drachman, illustrated by James Muscarello
from Kidwick Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fables
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Fables of Aesop
by Aesop, selected & illustrated by David Levine, translated by Patrick & Justina Gregory
from Gambit
for 2nd-4th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Farfallina & Marcel
by Holly Keller
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Forest Folk
by Mary & Conrad Buff
Fifth Printing, 1967 from Viking Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (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)
George and Martha Back in Town
by James Marshall
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
George and Martha Encore
by James Marshall
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Gorilla Baby
by Pearl Wolf
from Scholastic Book Services
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Great Big Elephant & the Very Small Elephant
by Barbara Seuling
from Crown Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Harvey's Hideout
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Four Winds Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Hat
by Jan Brett
from Penguin Putnam
Animal Stories: Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hedgie's Surprise
by Jan Brett
from Putnam Juvenile
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Henry the Explorer
by Mark Taylor, illustrated by Graham Booth
45th Anniversary Edition from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
High in the Clouds
by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar, Philip Ardagh
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: Picture Books (Location: ZCLE-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
for Preschool-3rd grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.00 (1 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)
House on Deer-Track Trail
by Marty Kelly, illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-5th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
House on East 88th Street
by Bernard Waber
1999 edition from Weekly Reader
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
from Blue Sky press
for 1st-5th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Hunted Horses
by Glen Rounds
1st edition from Holiday House
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
I'm Not Moving, Mama!
by Nancy White Carlstrom, Illustrated by Thor Wickstrom
from Macmillan
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Infamous Ratsos: Project Fluffy
by Kara LaReau, Illustrated by Matt Myers
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Invisible Moose
by Dennis Haseley, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited
from Michael Joseph
for 7th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Jolly Barnyard
by Annie North Bedford
1st edition from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Little Golden Books (Location: PIC-GOLD)
$1.60 (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
by Jean Craighead George
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Jungle Books Volume 1
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Aldren Watson, introduction by Nelson Doubleday
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$13.60 (1 in stock)
Kavik the Wolf Dog
by Walt Morey
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Little Whistle
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Tim Bowers
from Harcourt
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Little Whistle's Dinner Party
by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Tim Bowers
from Harcourt
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lone Muskrat
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Lost in the Woods
by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
from Carl R. Sams II Photography, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Maggie Muggins in the Meadow
by Mary Grannan, illustrated by Pat Patience
from Thomas Allen
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Man O' War
Black Stallion #16
by Walter Farley
from Random House
for 5th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Market Square Dog
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (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)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Misoso
by Verna Aardema
illustrated edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (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)
Mitten
by Jan Brett
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Molly and the Storm
by Christine Leeson, illustrated by Gaby Hansen
from Little Tiger Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Mousetronaut Goes to Mars
by Mark Kelly, illustrated by C. F. Payne
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Muggins' Big Balloon
by Marjorie Barrows, illustrated by Anne Sellers Leaf
from Rand McNally
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
My Friend Mac
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Mystery of the Gate Sign
by Margaret Friskey, Illustrated by Katherine Evans
from Children's Press
for Nursery-1st grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
New Shoes
from First Second
for Preschool-4th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$16.99 $8.00 (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)
Only One Woof
by James Herriot, illustrated by Peter Barrett
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Piggins and the Royal Wedding
by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Jane Dyer
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Poky Little Puppy
by Janette Sebring Lowrey & Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Little Golden Books (Location: PIC-GOLD)
$5.09 $2.40 (2 in stock)
Princess Gorilla and a New Kind of Water
by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Victoria Chess
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy
by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (3 in stock)
Rabbit Story
by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Carolyn Ewing
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Rain Talk
by Mary Serfozo
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (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)
Runaway Bunny
by Margaret Brown & Clement Hurd
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Secret Journey of the Silver Reindeer
by Lee Kingman, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (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)
Sheep in a Shop
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Houghton Mifflin
for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
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