Animals in Literature

The selections in this Collection explore the common motif of animals in literature. From classic novels to contemporary poetry and nonfiction, these titles delve into the relationships between humans and animals, shedding light on the profound impact animals have on our lives and exploring humanity's relationship with the natural world.

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Animals, Fathers, Family, Justice

Tags Children`s Literature, Action & Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Animals

Publication year 2022

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Space, Education, Truth & Lies, Science & Technology, Order & Chaos, Community, Gender Identity

Tags Science & Nature, Philosophy, World History, Politics & Government, Animals, Education, Diversity, Disability, Food, Health, Internet & Social Media, Military & War, Race & Racism, Religion & Spirituality, Social Justice, Technology, Philosophy

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Friendship, Animals

Tags Realistic Fiction, Animals, Health, Grief & Death, Trauma & Abuse, Children`s Literature, Disability

Publication year 1980

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Action & Adventure, Sports, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Animals, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction

Published in 1980, John Reynolds Gardiner’s debut children’s novel, Stone Fox is a beloved children’s story. Included on the 1980 New York Times Notable Books of the Year listing, Stone Fox sold millions of copies and was even adapted into a television show in 1987. The short children’s novel tells the story of Little Willy, a young boy who lives on a farm in Wyoming with his grandfather and his dog, Searchlight. The story follows... Read Stone Fox Summary

Publication year 1945

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Childhood & Youth, Self Discovery

Tags Children`s Literature, Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Animals, Action & Adventure

Stuart Little (1945) is E. B. White’s first children’s book—the collected stories of Stuart, a mouse-boy born into a human family. White was a journalist and humorist who wrote for the United Press, the Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The New Yorker, and Harper’s Magazine. He received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Prize in 1970 for contributions to children’s literature for the much beloved Charlotte’s Web, and in 1973, The Trumpet of the Swan won the Sequoyah... Read Stuart Little Summary

Publication year 1976

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Coming of Age, Friendship

Tags Historical Fiction, Animals, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction

Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls is a middle grade historical novel first published in 1976. Set in rural Oklahoma’s Ozark Mountains in the late 1800s, the story follows 14-year-old Jay Berry Lee as he tries to capture a group of monkeys that escaped from their circus train. The monkeys, and especially the chimpanzee who leads them, prove themselves wily adversaries for Jay Berry, who desperately wants the reward money that will accompany their... Read Summer of the Monkeys Summary

Publication year 2011

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Disability, Animals, Equality

Tags Disability, Animals, Inspirational, Agriculture, Children`s Literature, Science & Nature, Biography

Author and naturalist Sy Montgomery’s Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World (2012) is a biography of the animal behaviorist, animal rights advocate, and autism activism Temple Grandin. The biography is intended for young adult readers and discusses Grandin’s life from early childhood to the present day. It explores the challenges she faced with autism, the development of her creativity and her passion for animals, and the persistence... Read Temple Grandin Summary

Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Siblings, Coming of Age, Fathers, Childhood & Youth, Family, Friendship, Social Class

Tags Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Animals

In small town Oklahoma during the 1970s, a rough-and-tumble teenager learns to navigate the world with his older brother and a mostly absent father in S. E. Hinton’s young adult fiction novel Tex. Published in 1979, the book was subsequently made into a popular movie starring young Matt Dillon in the title role. Hinton herself has written that Texas McCormick is the favorite of all her iconic characters, so good natured and even tempered that... Read Tex Summary

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Birth, Loyalty & Betrayal, Family

Tags Philosophy, Animals, Modern Classic Fiction

Published in 2008, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a New York Times bestselling novel by Garth Stein. It follows the life of race car driver Denny Swift and is told from the perspective of his dog, Enzo. Stein was inspired to write the book after watching the 1998 Mongolian documentary State of Dogs about a dog who is reincarnated as a human after death, and after seeing the poet Billy Collins read... Read The Art of Racing in the Rain Summary

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Childhood & Youth, Environment, Teamwork

Tags Mythology, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Animals, Arts & Culture, Climate Change, European History, American Literature, Children`s Literature, Action & Adventure

The Battle of the Labyrinth is a fantasy-adventure novel inspired Greek mythology and written in 2008 by Rick Riordan. It is the fourth in the Percy Jackson series.The novel begins with Percy Jackson is at his freshman orientation at Good High School. Rachel Elizabeth Dare helps him fight two empousai, spectres who were disguised as cheerleaders. Percy flees to Camp Half-Blood, but Rachel remains. Percy is reunited with Annabeth, and they learn Grover is in... Read The Battle of the Labyrinth Summary

Publication year 1994

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Science & Nature, World History, Animals

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time is a Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book written in 1994 by Jonathan Weiner, a journalist and popular science author. This substantially unchanged edition was published in 2014 with a new preface.Weiner’s narrative relays the theory and history of evolutionary science through a case study of finch species in the Galápagos Islands. It follows evolutionists Peter and Rosemary Grant as they build substantially on the... Read The Beak of the Finch Summary

Publication year 1988

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Hope, Love, Family, Friendship, Daughters & Sons, Nature Versus Nurture, Plants, Community, Self Discovery

Tags Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Animals, Depression & Suicide, Diversity, Immigration & Refugeeism, Parenting, Poverty, Politics & Government, Race & Racism, Science & Nature, Social Justice, Trauma & Abuse, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

The Bean Trees (first published in 1988) is the first novel by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet who holds degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology, and her work often addresses biodiversity, social justice, communities, and people’s interactions with their environment. The Bean Trees is a work of realistic adult fiction that follows Taylor Greer as she leaves her rural upbringing in Kentucky, drives across the country to Tucson, Arizona, and... Read The Bean Trees Summary

Publication year 1942

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Environment, Justice

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Animals, Science & Nature, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Southern Gothic, Reconstruction Era, US History, Southern Literature, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

“The Bear” is a work of short fiction by William Faulkner, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in May 1942. Faulkner subsequently expanded the story and included it in Go Down, Moses, a collection of related short stories sometimes considered a novel, published later that year. An abbreviated version also appears in his 1955 anthology, Big Woods. As historical fiction set in an imagined Mississippi county, “The Bear” traces a young man’s development in... Read The Bear Summary