Books about Animals - Recommendatioms

[Villanelle]

I just finished Watchers by Dean Koontz, which features a golden retriever of unusual intelligence. A lot of books with animal characters are children's or young adult fiction but this was a horror/mystery novel for adults, and that retriever was a very Good Boy!

It's left me with that empty, finished-my-book feeling and I thought this community might have some great reccos for books that have animals in.

Ideally adult fiction, not children's books or non-fiction, but I know these may be few and far between.
[Sidenote - why? I never understood why a fascination with other conscious beings is often viewed as childish while watching some teens and teen-adjacents kick/throw/punch/slide a ball back and forth is somehow Very Grown Up?]

Anyway back to books and woofs. What's on your bookshelf, PZ frens?

Winter is coming, the fire is burning and the pages, they need turning...

 

[DarthQuell]

I just finished Watchers by Dean Koontz, which features a golden retriever of unusual intelligence. A lot of books with animal characters are children's or young adult fiction but this was a horror/mystery novel for adults, and that retriever was a very Good Boy!

It's left me with that empty, finished-my-book feeling and I thought this community might have some great reccos for books that have animals in.

Ideally adult fiction, not children's books or non-fiction, but I know these may be few and far between.
[Sidenote - why? I never understood why a fascination with other conscious beings is often viewed as childish while watching some teens and teen-adjacents kick/throw/punch/slide a ball back and forth is somehow Very Grown Up?]

Anyway back to books and woofs. What's on your bookshelf, PZ frens?

Winter is coming, the fire is burning and the pages, they need turning...

Oh, I have a list:

1. 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
2. The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
3. Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
4. The Lost World - Michael Crichton
5. Moby - Herman Melville
6. The Jungle Book I & II - Rudyard Kipling
7. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
8. Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson (this is an American comic strip about a 6-year old boy and his imaginary tiger. Best comic strip ever)
9. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham's
10. The Cats of the CIA series - George Arnold (a children's series, but it's so adorable. It's about cats who are spies and they teach new languages, too)

 

[Animal Guardian065]

There are way too many animal encyclopedias and fact books about animals near the location where I will be playing Planet Zoo. Some are The Natural History Book, Wildlife, and Knowledge Animal.

 

[Villanelle]

Oh, I have a list:

1. 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
2. The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
3. Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
4. The Lost World - Michael Crichton
5. Moby - Herman Melville
6. The Jungle Book I & II - Rudyard Kipling
7. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
8. Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson (this is an American comic strip about a 6-year old boy and his imaginary tiger. Best comic strip ever)
9. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham's
10. The Cats of the CIA series - George Arnold (a children's series, but it's so adorable. It's about cats who are spies and they teach new languages, too)

Calvin and Hobbes is the best

Verne is such a foodie. His books are basically just tasting notes of the wildlife/sealife of all the locations he goes

@DarthQuell I bet you'd love Watchers. Great book. Scary but full of heart.

 

[DarthQuell]

Calvin and Hobbes is the best

Ah, a person of culture, I see

Verne is such a foodie. His books are basically just tasting notes of all the locations he goes

You just can't dislike any of his books
I've read the 2 I mentioned, plus Around the World in 80 Days and Journey to the Center of the Earth. That guy was smart, real smart. I base some of my storytelling off of him

@DarthQuell I bet you'd love Watchers. Great book. Scary but full of heart

I'll have to check it out. Lately I've been reading Isaac Asimov, but he's known for robots, not animals

 

[DarthQuell]

I would also say, in a way, that the Far Side comic strip, by Gary Larson, is about animals.

He has so many single panel comics talking about animals, and he frequently features dinosaurs, ducks, cows, dogs, and cats in his comics.

Actually, because of this guy, scientists have an official name for the tail spikes of stegosaurs: the Thagomizer

 

[Villanelle]

I would also say, in a way, that the Far Side comic strip, by Gary Larson, is about animals.

He has so many single panel comics talking about animals, and he frequently features dinosaurs, ducks, cows, dogs, and cats in his comics.

Actually, because of this guy, scientists have an official name for the tail spikes of stegosaurs: the Thagomizer

True, true. I mean animals feature heavily in many comic books and strips. A certain greedy cat comes to mind...

I'd love to hear about more contemporary adult prose though. Novels, short stories. Any genre.
Life of Pi, that kind of thing.

Just found this list and will be exploring it -

8 Grown-Up Novels with Animal Narrators - Electric Literature

Kira Jane Buxton, author of "Hollow Kingdom" recommends fiction that makes animals the mouthpiece of human angst

electricliterature.com

 

[SuzieSky]

These are children's books, but I enjoyed reading them.
Fire Bringer, The Sight, Fell - David Clement-Davies (If you like a bit of fantasy)
Runt - Marion Dane Bauer (truly lovely writing; my favorite book as a kid)
Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers - Gary Paulsen (nonfiction? sled dog book)
Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George (you've probably heard about this series)
Whittington - Alan Armstrong (It's told by animals. Good book.)

 

[DarthQuell]

I'd love to hear about more contemporary adult prose though. Novels, short stories. Any genre.
Life of Pi, that kind of thing.

Ah. Then go for the original Jungle Books. They are much darker than the Disney movies (1 chapter is about war between 2 species).

Shere Kahn has a kinda brutal death

 

[Villanelle]

These are children's books, but I enjoyed reading them.
Fire Bringer, The Sight, Fell - David Clement-Davies (If you like a bit of fantasy)
Runt - Marion Dane Bauer (truly lovely writing; my favorite book as a kid)
Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers - Gary Paulsen (nonfiction? sled dog book)
Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George (you've probably heard about this series)
Whittington - Alan Armstrong (It's told by animals. Good book.)

Oooh. I don't know any of these except the Clement-Davies ones! Thank you. Will have a look at Runt and Whittington for starters.

For younger stuff, I assume you've read Watership Down (Richard Adams)?

And in a way, the Northern Lights / His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman) series? Everyone's soul is externalised in animal form as a talking 'daemon'.

 

[SuzieSky]

Oooh. I don't know any of these except the Clement-Davies ones! Thank you. Will have a look at Runt and Whittington for starters.

For younger stuff, I assume you've read Watership Down (Richard Adams)?

And in a way, the Northern Lights / His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman) series? Everyone's soul is externalised in animal form as a talking 'daemon'.

I've heard of Watership Down, but strangely never read it. I have read Philip Pullman's books. That was a fun series!

 

[KellyL]

Watchers is indeed a great story, perhaps Koontz's best book. Also see the James Herriott books, starting with All Creatures Great and Small.

 

[RightWhale]

It’s animal related in the sense that the experiments are animals. Jurassic Park and it’s sister book The Lost World. I am warning you though, the book has a lot less of an optimistic look on these animals than the movies.

 

[DarthQuell]

It’s animal related in the sense that the experiments are animals. Jurassic Park and it’s sister book The Lost World. I am warning you though, the book has a lot less of an optimistic look on these animals than the movies.

Crichton was also graphic. The deaths are described in detail. Or what the characters were feeling

 

[FlameWizard492]

I get that you’re looking more towards stories not meant for younger demographics, but I remember a book series that I loved in middle school (age 12 to 14 for those of you outside the US). I just think this would be a good thread where I can talk about it.
It’s a series called Spirit Animals. It’s about an alternate fantasy universe where kids all over the world have to drink a magic nectar on their eleventh birthday. When they do, there’s a chance of them summoning a real life spirit animal who will be their companion for life, but it’s somewhat uncommon if they do appear. The story centers around four kids whose spirit animals are actually the pseudo-reincarnation of powerful animals (all of whom had human cognition and speech) who sacrificed themselves in a great war. Because of the return of these legendary animals, the kids were then recruited by an organization dedicated to keeping peace and fighting evil around the world to prevent another war. I’d say that it’s a pretty good series.

Sorry, I just wanted to geek out a little.

Anyway, another one that I remember reading was War Horse. It’s told from the perspective of a horse who was sold to the British army to fight in World War I. I remember enjoying it. I think it was adapted into a stage play a few years ago.

 

[synthetase]

A Dog's Life the autobiography of a Stray
I was just a teenager when I read it, but I really enjoyed it.
Socks by Beverly Cleary is a little kid book but its so cool! I loved it and would read it again!

 

[synthetase]

Oh! I forgot if you're into dogs
Gabriel by Jean Slaughter Doty. Its one of my faves! Very fun to read with all kinds of emotions every dog owner feels involved in it.

 

[DarthQuell]

Anyway, another one that I remember reading was War Horse. It’s told from the perspective of a horse who was sold to the British army to fight in World War I. I remember enjoying it. I think it was adapted into a stage play a few years ago.

That sounds very interesting, actually. I'll have to check that one out, too

 

[Villanelle]

It’s a series called Spirit Animals...

Ah sounds exactly like what I would have loved at that age I quite like reading/listening to younger fiction when I'm sick, so next time I get covid, this will be my chicken soup!

Sorry, I just wanted to geek out a little.

Geek away this is a subthread about books about animals on a forum about a video game about animals...safe to say we are all at some level of geekery here

Anyway, another one that I remember reading was War Horse. It’s told from the perspective of a horse who was sold to the British army to fight in World War I. I remember enjoying it. I think it was adapted into a stage play a few years ago.

Warhorse is great. I bawled my eyes out! The use of horses in war breaks my heart I haven't seen the play but it was made into an excellent film (2011).

If anyone hasn't read or seen the 1978 film of Watership Down - you must! It's about so much more than just rabbits! A parable of many things - friendship, war, fascism? and an epic adventure story. It's a story for any age I think, it doesn't pull any punches. I like books that don't patronise kids and this is maybe the best example of that.

The music in the film is also some of the best film music there is. It's one of the few films I can watch again and again, I probably know it off by heart! It feels timeless, I don't think you'd guess it was as old as it now is, except maybe some of the voice actors' RP accents. Definitely don't bother with the more recent (2018?) TV remake, it was trash.

 

[FlameWizard492]

Ah sounds exactly like what I would have loved at that age I quite like reading/listening to younger fiction when I'm sick, so next time I get covid, this will be my chicken soup!

Oh, you’d love it! It seems like such a fascinating world! It even explores how the concept can go sour, such as what happens when spirit animals go neglected, what happens when you bond with an animal without drinking the nectar, and the history of the world itself. I’ve only read the first series. Apparently, there’s a Series 2 in which the world gets explored more. Anyway, you don’t have to wait until you’re sick to get into it. Maybe just listen to a chapter or two before bed?