Animal Tales

The following novels are a few favorite animal tales.

The first animal novels I read were Marjorie Rawlings' The yearling and then John Rawls' Where the red fern grows. Both tear jerkers which kept me away from animal stories for a while. But these two novels are also two of the best stories about love for a pet, and I highly recommend each. Another animal tale that many might have heard about is, Sheila Burnford's The incredible journey. This story is more about a pet's love for his/her human family and what lengths a pet will go to in order to be reunited with them. This is a great tale with a lot of adventure.


Henry, Marguerite. King of the wind. 1948. Newbery Medal 1949.

Agba is a mute horse-boy who loves his horse Sham. Sham is a small, very fast Arabian stallion. Sham was to win races and sire a new breed of fast horses for the king of France. But the trip from Morocco weakened both horse and horse-boy and in France Sham pulls the cook’s cart. Agba and Sham’s life in Europe is hard, lonely and sometimes cruel. This is Agba and Sham’s story of their devotion to each other and their courage during their difficult years. Their luck changes and life improves for them both but Sham is still not a champion. One day Agba and Sham take matters into their own hands and perhaps destroy the friendships they have fostered and any hope of Sham’s racing glory. Read King of the Wind and enjoy this tale of a feisty horse and his mute and loyal friend.


Armstrong, Alan W. Whittington. 2005. Newbery Honor Book 2006.

Whittington is a cat who joins a family of ragtag animals in the barn of good natured Bernie to spend the winter. He helps to pass the time for the animals and for Bernie’s two parentless grandchildren, Abby and Ben, by storytelling. The story he tells is of his ancestor and namesake Dick Whittington and his cat and the good fortune that comes to Dick because of his cat. Throughout Whittington’s storytelling there is the underlying problem that Ben, at age eight, cannot read. He does not trust his teachers to help him but his world expands with Whittington’s storytelling ability and ultimately, he has to make a decision about his own abilities and what he can accomplish.


Lisle, Janet Taylor. Highway cats. 2008.

Three tiny kittens are abandoned in the median of a busy highway. They should not have survived the short trip to get off the highway but they do. They are noticed first by Shredder, an old cynical cat, who has no use for the kittens. Soon the other feral cats, who eek out a living alongside the highway, notice the kittens. The affect they have on everyone they meet, including the once-beautiful Siamese Khalia Koo, is apparent. The kittens are a salve on the harden hearts and souls of the cats. Then bulldozers arrive to tear up their little patch of trees to build an off-ramp. What happens to the cats and ultimately to the kittens will surprise you and make you laugh. Read Highway cats for something different.


Newman, Leslea. Hachiko waits. 2004.

Hachi is an Akita dog who loves his owner, Professor Eizaburo Ueno. In fact, Hachi travels with the professor every morning to the train station to see his owner off to work. He passes the time during the day until he arrives back at the train station in time to meet his owner on the train returning from work. Hachi always waits for his owner. A young boy, Yasuo, returns on the train in the afternoons at the same time as the professor and becomes Hachi’s friend. One day, the professor dies while at work and does not come home on the afternoon train but Hachi waits and waits. Read this moving tale to discover the depth of love and devotion felt by Hachi to his owner and Yasuo to Hachiko that ends long after the professor’s death.