Fiction animal-based books for 9 y/o boy

[Anonymous]

Other Side of the mountain and the others in that series

[Anonymous]

I love Gerald Durrell's books. As they are not children's books, you will find characters swearing, etc. but they are great for animal lovers. I read them at that age anyway!
He was a real-life zookeeper who had an unconventional childhood on a Greek island, kept a ton of unusual pets, and started writing books to fund his collecting expeditions. Later books told the stories of the collecting expeditions to Africa, South America, etc. Not widely known here in the US, but worth seeking out.

[Anonymous]

Pax, by Sara Pennypacker

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate

Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo

And the classics:

Old Yeller
Marguerite Henry's books
Redwall
Sounder
Shiloh
Watership Down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love Gerald Durrell's books. As they are not children's books, you will find characters swearing, etc. but they are great for animal lovers. I read them at that age anyway!
He was a real-life zookeeper who had an unconventional childhood on a Greek island, kept a ton of unusual pets, and started writing books to fund his collecting expeditions. Later books told the stories of the collecting expeditions to Africa, South America, etc. Not widely known here in the US, but worth seeking out.

So glad to find someone else who has read Gerald Durrell! I love him too!

[Anonymous]

I loved Watership Down when I was in 4th grade!

And how about Nop's Trials (McCaig), The Incredible Journey (Burnford), Scruffy (Stoneley), Smoky the Cowhorse (James)...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved Watership Down when I was in 4th grade!

Came here to recommend this. My 4th grade boy loved it as well. The rabbits are anthropomorphic - they do talk to each other, after all - but still pretty clearly nonhuman.

[Anonymous]

Have you read the Narnia series? The main characters are human, but there are plenty of animal characters, and it is full of adventure.

[Anonymous]

Big Red/Irish Red/Outlaw Red and all other Jim Kjelgaard books
The Great Dane Thor by Walter Farley
Kävik the Wolf Dog by Walt Morey
Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman (gently satirizes dog books)

[Anonymous]

Warriors series, about cats, by Erin Hunter, which is a pen name for a consortium of 6 authors. Wings of Fire, about dragons, by Tai Sutherland, who is one of the 6 Erin Hunter authors. Bravelands, mentioned earlier in this thread, are also by Erin Hunter.

Also, W. Bruce Cameron's series of A Dog's Purpose books.

[Anonymous]

Not quite the classics you have gone with, but I’ve been reading my 8 year old the Fun Jungle series - the first one is “Belly Up.” He really, really likes them - we just started the 4th one last week.

One thing that annoys me is that one of the characters is overweight and is often called “large marge”. I skip that stuff & just call her marge when I read.

[Anonymous]

My kid who likes the Fun Jungle books also liked “A wolf called Wander”

[Anonymous]

I didn't see Trumpet of the Swan by EB White listed (same author as Charlotte's Web),

[Anonymous]

Anyone familiar with Watership Down? Is that a good one to read out loud?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pax, by Sara Pennypacker

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate

Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo

And the classics:

Old Yeller
Marguerite Henry's books
Redwall
Sounder
Shiloh
Watership Down

We loved Pax. I recently saw that there's a sequel. Such a good book for discussing big themes about war and peace but totally accessible. Chapters alternate between the perspective of a fox and the perspective of a boy. So good.

I also second Calpurnia Tate. Beautiful books.

[Anonymous]

Warriors. Cat books