Boston Public Library
Talk to the Animals
Booklists for Kids


Annotated animal fantasy chapter books for children.

Adams, Richard
WATERSHIP DOWN
Adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to make a home.

Asch, Frank
PEARL'S PIRATES
A band of mice sets sail in a model ship and braves the dangers of Frog Island in search of lost pirate treasure.

Avi
POPPY (series)
Poppy, a deer mouse, urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to feed them forever.

Balaban, John
THE HAWK'S TALE
Adventures of a toad, a mouse, and a young water snake as they set out to rescue a mouse carried off by a hawk.

Banks, Lynne Reid
I, HOUDINI
A hamster recounts his experiences as an escape artist.

Bond, Michael
A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON (series)
Mr. and Mrs. Brown look after a bear from Peru.

Booth, Martin
WAR DOG: A NOVEL
Jet is requisitioned by the British Army and sees duty searching for survivors of Germany's bombing raids on English cities.

Burnford, Sheila
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
A cat, bull terrier, and a Labrador retriever travel 250 miles through the wilderness to find their family.

Cleary, Beverly
THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE
A reckless mouse makes friends with a boy and discovers the joys of motorcycling.

Erickson, Russell
A TOAD FOR TUESDAY
Toad has five days to escape from an owl who plans to eat him on Tuesday.

Farmer, Nancy
THE WARM PLACE
When a giraffe is captured and sent to a zoo, she calls upon two rats, a chameleon, a runaway boy, and all the magical powers of the animal world to return to the warm place that is home.

Grahame, Kenneth
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
The escapades of four animals friends who live along a river in the English countryside.

Hansen, Brooks
CAESAR'S ANTLERS
Bette, a mother sparrow separated by accident from her mate, takes her chicks on a long search when a faithful reindeer permits her to make a nest in his antlers.

Howe, Deborah
BUNNICULA (series)
Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their baby bunny must be a vampire.

Jacques, Brian
REDWALL (series)
Mattias, a young mouse, determines to find a legendary sword with which to fight the evil rat Cluny.

King-Smith, Dick
BABE: THE GALLANT PIG
A piglet arrives at the farmyard, is adopted by an old sheep dog, and discovers a special secret to success.

Lawson, Robert
RABBIT HILL
See what happens when the animals of Rabbit Hill learn that new folks are moving into the new big, empty house.

Lively, Penelope
A HOUSE INSIDE OUT
Adventures of mice, spiders, pill bugs, that live seen and unseen in the nooks and crannies of an ordinary house.

Lofting, Hugh
THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE
Adventures of a doctor who is fond of animals and understands their language.

London, Jack
THE CALL OF THE WILD
Buck, a dog, is abducted from his home and thrust into the merciless world of the Arctic North.

Menk, James
LILLIAN'S FISH
When Lillian's pet fish escapes from her pond and all the other pets band together to search for her, they must learn to overcome their differences if they are to succeed in their dangerous mission.

Milne, A.A.
WINNIE-THE-POOH
Adventures of Christopher Robin and his friends.

Morris, Gilbert
JOURNEY TO FREEDOM
Chip leads the Whitefoot Mouse Army to protect the royal family and defend their homeland against the invasion of domineering Brown Rats.

O'Brien, Robert C.
MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH
Having no one to help her, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long-lived.

Rylant, Cynthia
GOOSEBERRY PARK
When a storm separates a squirrel from her newborn babies, her animal friends come to the rescue.

Seidler, Tor
MEAN MARGARET
A tyrannical toddler turns the lives of a pair of newlywed woodchucks, a squirrel, a snake, and some bats topsy-turvy.

Selden, George
THE CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE
A country cricket with unique musical talents lands in the middle of Times Square where he and his new friends put his talents to use.

Sharp, Margery
THE RESCUERS (series)
Two enterprising mice rescue a Norwegian poet from the dungeon of the Black Castle.

Steig, William
ABEL'S ISLAND
Abel, a mouse, is cast away on a deserted island and struggles to survive and return to his home.

Titus, Eve
BASIL OF BAKER STREET
Basil finds himself involved in dangerous adventures as he tries to investigate a mystery.

White, E.B.
CHARLOTTE'S WEB
Wilbur, the pig, is to be the Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him.


Compiled by Vicky Morgan, Children's Librarian, Faneuil Branch, Boston Public Library, 2001.