Animal Stories for Children
Ranked #5,757 in Pets & Animals, #143,251 overall | Donates to Squidoo Charity Fund, ASPCA
Books That Entertain and Teach
Animal stories have been used to depict human behaviors, emotions and vices, since centuries ago: Aesop's Fables, for example, was written in the 6th century B.C.!
In most children stories featuring animals, the characters are able to speak and represent "human" situations, manifesting feelings like joy, sadness or conflicts and failures, good and bad behaviors.
Children may easily identify with any of the characters, and because the adventure happens to an animal and not to a real kid, it appears to them less dramatic, less scary.
It's easy for a child to identify with an animal character as, somehow, they have something in common: they both have less power and capabilities than adults, but may sometimes be more clever.
Old, Old Animal Stories
History of Children Books
Informative Links
1 -
Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter
by Seth Lerer
"Lerer's history reminds us of the wealth of literature written during the past 2,600 years." San Francisco Chronicle
"There is hardly a children's classic, from Robinson Crusoe to Where the Wild Things Are to pop-up books, which [Lerer] does not discuss with sympathy and wit."-New York Sun
____________
2 -
"There have been children's stories and folk-tales ever since man first learned to speak. Children's books, however, are a late growth of literature"
by C. M. Hewins
..read more here.
Popular Authors
[Click on the name to access the site]
- Richard Scarry
- Scarry's most famous series of books was about "Busytown". Scarry's characters are almost always anthropomorphic animals. His books have been popular with children throughout the world. Over 100 million copies of his books have been sold, and they've been translated into 30 languages.
While his books are largely populated by common animal species such as cats, rabbits, pigs, and mice, he proved to be quite adept to giving human characteristics to a seemingly endless number of creatures. Beavers, raccoons, hippopotami, rhinoceri, owls, bears, goats, elephants, foxes, gorillas, crocodiles, dogs, wolves, anteaters, hyenas, baboons, chickens, and insects were just some of the other animals to be featured in Scarry's works.
- Eric Carle
- Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for very young children. His best-known work is The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Jan Brett
- Jan Brett is an author/illustrator of children's books. Her books are known for colorful depictions of a wide variety of animals.
Jan Brett has brought to life lovable characters and imaginary landscapes for millions of children. There is not a public library or elementary school library in the US that does not have at least one of Brett's books on their shelves.
- Mercer Meyer
- American children's book writer and illustrator. He has published over 300 books using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is probably best known for his "Little Critter" and "Little Monster" series of books.
- Laura Numeroff
- American author and illustrator of children's books who is best known for her work If You Give a Mouse a Cookie which ended up as such as hit, that it spawned numerous more books that expanded from the mouse to include the characters of a moose, a cat, and a pig.
Great Titles For small Children
from 1 to 5 Years Old
Vote For Your Favorite Animal Book For Children
Move links up or down to vote (or even suggest your own favorite)
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
Alexandra Day's modern classic Good Dog Carl has s more...1 point
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Nicki's mitten becomes a cozy home for a host of w more...1 point
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
It's not easy for duck parents to find a safe plac more...1 point
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf; Illustrator-Robert Lawson
What else can be said about the fabulous Ferdinand more...0 points
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
A little bunny keeps runningaway from his mother in more...0 points
Animal Stories On The Web
- All Creatures
- Stories about human and non-human animal relationships. Some of them are sad, some are funny, and some are both. Others tell of humans turning to God because of the death of a non-human animal. But one thing that all of these stories have in common is that they will touch your heart and soul.
- American Folklore
- Short animal stories about dogs, cats, Brer Rabbit, birds, fish, and other crazy critters from all over the United States and Canada.
- Animal Myths And Legends
- Explore our collection of myths and legends, read postcards and stories from the animals we have met and have fun playing our games and puzzles.
Learn about endangered animals and environments, Biomes and read amazing animal facts.
Native American legends and Aesop fables added to the collection of myths and legends.
