Animal Tales

Inspired by true events, this award-winning novel by Katherine Applegate tells the story of a captive gorilla and the elephant he befriends.

After a war breaks out, Peter is forced to abandon Pax, his beloved pet fox — but Peter and Pax are determined to find one another again.

Mrs. Frisby and her children, a family of mice, must leave their home in order to escape the farmer's plow. Because her son Timothy is too sick to leave his bed, Mrs. Frisby enlists the help of a group of super-intelligent rats to help move her family to safety.

In the first book of the Warriors series, a house cat named Rusty joins up with a clan of wild cats.

In this classic novel, a group of rabbits makes a perilous journey to find a new home.

Mr. Popper, who dreams of exploring the polar regions, receives a penguin as a gift — and soon he training an entire penguin family to be part of Popper's Performing Penguins.

This classic novel tells the story of three pets who go on a quest through the wilderness to reunite with their owner.

While shopping for groceries, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni finds a dog that will change her life.

When a violent storm sinks the ship carrying his family from India to North America, Pi is trapped alone in a lifeboat with an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra, and a man-eating tiger named Richard Parker.

Billy saves enough money to buy two pups, Old Dan and Little Ann. Together they become one of the best hunting teams in the Ozarks—and devoted friends as well. But when the unthinkable happens, Billy must learn how to nurture hope in a time of tragedy.

After her parents' divorce, cynical Flora befriends a squirrel with super powers.

Anna Sewell's classic novel tells the life story of a horse who experiences both hardship and kindness.

In this powerful and heart-wrenching book, a sharecropper's family, including devoted dog Sounder, struggles to survive.

When their father goes off on a cattle drive, a family survives with a little help from a beloved pet dog. Learn these words from the classic novel by Fred Gipson.

In this classic novel, an Eskimo girl lost in the arctic wilderness must fight for survival while she grapples with her sense of identity. Learn these words from the Newbery Medal winner by Jean Craighead George.

Twelve-year-old Roy Ebehardt takes an unexpected interest in the plight of a group of owls endangered by a local pancake house.

Stuart Little may be a mouse, but he grows up with a human family and embarks on many bold adventures.

In this charming adventure, the lives of three unusual characters—a brave mouse, a lonely servant girl, and a rat desperate for a better life—intersect.

A dog named Bob enlists his friends, a gorilla named Ivan and an elephant named Ruby, to help him find his long-lost sister.

Matthias and the other mice of Redwall Abbey must fight off a horde of rat invaders led by the evil Cluny.

This Newbery Medal-winning novel tells the story of a boy's efforts to protect a beloved dog from abuse.

Each year, residents of Thisby race the violent water horses that live in the sea around their island. Sean hopes that winning will enable him to buy the horse he loves; Puck hopes that winning will allow her to save her home and keep her family together. But surviving the brutal competition will prove more challenging than either of them expected.

What would happen if the Russian Revolution of 1917 took place on a small English farm? This provocative novella blends fable, satire, and allegory while grappling with some of the twentieth-century's most consequential political ideas.

Kenneth Grahame's classic novel recounts the adventures of four woodland friends: Mole, Rat, Badger, and the irrepressible Mr. Toad. Read the full text here.

In this collection of stories set in India, Rudyard Kipling introduces beloved characters such as Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the courageous mongoose.

In this classic novel, a boy enters a dogsled race in the hopes of winning enough money to save his grandfather's farm.

Half dog, half wolf, White Fang struggles to survive in the wilderness — and to navigate the complicated world of humans.

In this action-packed adventure story, a domesticated dog must shed his civilized ways to become a proper sled dog during the Yukon Gold Rush. Read the full text here.

Byx believes she may be the last of the dairnes, a species of dog-like creatures, so she sets out on an epic journey to find others of her kind.

As his family struggles financially, Jackson deals with hardship with the help of his imaginary friend, a giant cat named Crenshaw.

In this classic novel, Chester the cat is convinced that his family's new pet rabbit is a vampire.

These whimsical poems by modernist T.S. Eliot were originally written for Eliot's godchildren. The collected poems were eventually adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the musical Cats.

A robot named Roz attempts to make a home for herself on an island inhabited only by wild animals.

In this classic novel, a pig named Wilbur befriends a spider, who attempts to save his life.

In this historical fantasy novel set during the Civil War, orphan Magdalys Roca attempts to rescue her friends from a slave trader — with the help of some domesticated dinosaurs.

In the basement of their New York City apartment building, Gregor and his little sister discover a portal to an underground world populated by giant bats, insects, and rodents.

A twelve-year-old boy runs away from his crowded New York City home to live in the Catskill Mountains, where he can depend only on himself.

In this sequel to My Side of the Mountain, Sam Gribley's sister Alice joins her brother in the Catskill Mountains. But when Alice disappears and Sam's beloved falcon is taken away, he must fight to get them back.

In the third book of the My Side of the Mountain trilogy, Frightful is on her own in the wilderness, trying to survive without Sam.

Chester Cricket makes an unexpected journey from the fields of Connecticut to bustling New York City, where he meets several new friends but misses his rural home.

This installment of The Chronicles of Narnia follows the adventures of a runaway boy and a talking horse.

Born mute, Louis the swan learns to read, write, and play the trumpet in the hopes of communicating with another swan named Serena.

This historical novel traces the lives of two tiger cubs in ancient Rome.