Need book rec's for just turned 8 yr old animal lover

[Joker]

My dd, 8, pretty much taught herself to read at three years old. She is a big animal person and wants to only read books about animals. The first book she really enjoyed was Mr. Popper's Penguins. The most recent was about nine months ago - The Trumpet of the Swam. She read it twice and we watched the animated movie and she pointed out all the differences. It was her favorite book by far. My problem is she has not been really interested in any book since. The only reading she is doing lately is reading I am making her do for school time. She listens to read alouds and can answer questions and she does all of her history reading and can tell me what she read so I know there is not a comprehension problem. I would like to be able to get her excited about a new book. I need help and ideas. Thanks!!

[Melanie]

My daughter liked the All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot at that age.

[kalanamak]

My dd, 8, pretty much taught herself to read at three years old. She is a big animal person and wants to only read books about animals. The first book she really enjoyed was Mr. Popper's Penguins. The most recent was about nine months ago - The Trumpet of the Swam.

 

At 8 I was in love with King of the Wind, and went on to all of Henry's books.

[Joker]

Thanks so much! I'll look into these books - we haven't tried them yet.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Ben and Me (mouse)

Mr. Revere and I (horse)

Ralph S. Mouse (three books in this series)

The Cricket in Times Square (more books in this series as well)

Charlotte's Web

Stuart Little

The Great Turkey Walk

The Black Stallion

Henry and Ribsy ( and another book about Ribsy, the dog)

Glen Rounds does some horsey type stories.

 

Then there is always Lassie and Big Red, dog stories.

Edited June 15, 2010 by Virginia Dawn

[OrganicAnn]

There is a series of books called Animal Ark. British. Formulaic. The parents are vets. The girls get involved with various animals (find homes, saving them etc). Not the quality of the Trumpet of the Swan, but if you are just looking for some fiction....

[Guest]

These are not great literature, but the series Animal Ark is useful for readers needing to gain stamina and speed at their comfort level, and centers on the daughter of vets in the Yorkshire Dales.

 

If she likes horses, Faber is reprinting a series of classic British novels about kids and their ponies, pony clubs, taming horses, etc. My daughter's favorite is called Silver Snaffles; her father read it growing up. http://www.faber.co.uk/home/books

 

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett, is a wild and fun read too.

[Matryoshka]

How about Babe the Gallant Pig and other books by Dick King-Smith?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Shiloh and other books in that series.

 

Owls in the Family

 

Cappy-boppy

[LibraryLover]

There is a series of books called Animal Ark. British. Formulaic. The parents are vets. The girls get involved with various animals (find homes, saving them etc). Not the quality of the Trumpet of the Swan, but if you are just looking for some fiction....

 

 

I agree. If she is not enjoying reading right now, I might not do these as they can be very dull and repetitive. Trumpet of the Swan is a fav of mine, but it can be a slog for many younger children.

 

Would she like Charlotte's Web?

 

Babe, the Gallant Pig is wonderful. Less wonderful, but still good, is The Water Horse by the same author, King-Smith.

 

Because of Winn Dixie?

 

Homeward Bound?

 

Nim's Island.

 

All of these have been made into films, so she might enjoy the contrast and compare aspect. Nim's Island, the movie, is a sham, be reminded. The others are not bad renditions, although they changed the protagonist in Water Horse from a girl to a boy, which was upsetting to my dds.

 

Julie of the Wolves?

 

 

 

Eva Ibbotsen has a wonderful book about sea creatures, real and mythical. My mind is currently drawing blank on the title. My dd loved it at 8. If you are strict Christian, you might not like it. It's very mother nature-ish.

Edited June 15, 2010 by LibraryLover

[NanceXToo]

James Herriot's Treasury For Children has all different animal stories in it (beautiful illustrations, too)!

[Mama Geek]

How about the dog whisperer books by Ceasar Milan? They are dog training books, but they are pretty good reads.

[2cents]

My daughter liked the All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot at that age.

:iagree:

[Laura Corin]

Dick King-Smith has lots of books for different reading levels. He writes very well about animals. There's also the Mouse and the Motorcycle series and the Cricket in Times Square series.

 

Laura

[WistfulRidge]

Anything/everything written by Jim Kjelgaard. They're geared more towards boys but they are great animal stories (and I will admit, still some of my favorite stories ever 15 years after reading them for the first time). Start off with Big Red (followed by Irish Red and Outlaw Red) .

[Joker]

Thanks everyone, these suggestions should keep us busy for a while. She has read Charlotte's Web and liked it. We tried the Animal Ark series and she said she didn't like them as well as some of the Beverly Cleary books. There were many listed here that we haven't tried though so I'm excited to get a few new books and see how it goes. I would just like to find at least one this year that she actually enjoys and reads without being asked.

[simka2]

My dd has recently got into The Guardians of Ga'hoole...which is being made into a movie this summer. It's all about owls :) here's a link... http://www.scholastic.com/gahoole/ Hope, that helps :)

[fivetails]

A lot of girls around the 8-11 age range seem to enjoy the Cat Warriors books. :)

[LibraryLover]

Which reminded me of the Catwings books. They are short and sweet and approachable.

 

 

A lot of girls around the 8-11 age range seem to enjoy the Cat Warriors books. :)

[Nakia]

My daughter loves horses, and she loved the Winnie the Horse Gentler books at that age.

[Kathleen in VA]

How about Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson? It is written from the animals' perspective.

[Tap]

DD11 loved (!) Thornton Burgess's works

 

She liked that while the animals were 'animated' with talking/clothing and such, that they kept their natural instincts and characteristics.

[Ellie]

The Chestry Oak, by Kate Seredy (you should read that one, too).

Lassie Come-Home

Lad, a Dog, and others by Albert Payson Terhune

101 Dalmations (NOT Disney)

The Rescuers (series by Margery Sharp, which includes Miss Bianca; NOT Disney)

All of Marguerite Henry's books

 

 

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is not actually all about a little white horse (which, it turns out, is a unicorn) but it's a wonderful book, on my top three list (The Little White Horse, The Chestry Oak, and Understood Betsy).

 

Walter Farley's Black Stallion series isn't great literature, but it's still fun to read. There's also the Island Stallion series by the same author (and in one those books, the Black Stallion and the Island Stallion meet. Kewl.).

 

Your dd is probably reading past the Billy and Blaze series, but they're still fun to read.

 

My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, and the Green Grass of Wyoming is a more adult series your dd might enjoy later.

 

Dorothy Lyons wrote a bunch of horse books--again, not great literature, but still fun reads.

[Joker]

Wow! Thanks - I just went ahead and sent this whole thread to my email so I won't forget any.

[AngieW in Texas]

The Animal Ark Pets series is great for animal-lovers. Be forewarned that the series that is called just Animal Ark sometimes has the animal die. That never happens in the Animal Ark Pets series. My youngest read all the Animal Ark books and was going to move on to the Animal Ark series, but both of the books she tried from that series had an animal die, so she refused to consider going near those books ever again.

 

Animal Ark Pets is 3rd grade level. Animal Ark is 4th grade reading level.

[helena]

Bat Poet and The Animal Family are wonderful.

 

There's an Owl in the Shower was interesting because it talked about the logging industry and old growth forests in N. California, (It was an easy read though).

 

Here are some I don't think were listed, (we haven't read yet):

Black Star, Bright Dawn It's about a girl and her dog in the iditarod

Bambi I haven't read this one yet because my girls don't do well with tear jerkers :001_smile:

Incident at Hawk's Hill

Star in the Storm

[Hannah C.]

I don't think anyone's mentioned these yet..What about Beatrix Potter?? They aren't realistic, per se, but I loved them.

 

Black Beauty is another book I really enjoyed as a child..but it has sad things in it. It's very well written.

 

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a book I never actually got into, but she might enjoy it.

 

The James Herriot books -- All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small, and All Things Wise and Wonderful, at the very least -- are very interesting, but have some sad parts and are technically written for adults. I don't remember anything too bad beyond animals dying, a bit of (mostly British) bad language, and some fairly graphic animal births.

 

I also remember reading a very realistic book about a hedgehog..I can't remember the title though, which is very frustrating. However, it portrayed some realistic mother-hedgehog behavior which a child could easily find disturbing, so it's probably not a good one to recommend anyway.

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

I wouldn't call Bambi a tear jerker - it is grittier than that. It was intended for adults & tries to portray the animals & their lives realistically. It has hard things in it - and sad ones, but the flavor is much closer to realistic nature writing than to children's tearjerker. (I am told that the Disney adaptation is very different.)

 

The original Bambi is really more of a anti-hunting treatise. I was surprised when I read the unabridged version. Well-written, but there is definitely an agenda there.

[helena]

I wouldn't call Bambi a tear jerker - it is grittier than that. It was intended for adults & tries to portray the animals & their lives realistically. It has hard things in it - and sad ones, but the flavor is much closer to realistic nature writing than to children's tearjerker. (I am told that the Disney adaptation is very different.)

 

My girls (8 & 11), went crazy when we were reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and the brother died. They were practically frothing at the mouth, screaming at me "Why did you do this to us??".

After a few days they cooled down and I finished reading it.

 

After that and a few other "Old Yeller" type experiences (:001_smile:), I stopped reading books like that. I continue to buy them, because as they mature, they might want them. My girls especially don't want to read about animals suffering.. maybe that's why their drawn to Bat Poet type animal books?

 

So I don't know about Bambi. I guess I could start with reading it myself.

[kiana]

 

I wouldn't call Bambi a tear jerker - it is grittier than that. It was intended for adults & tries to portray the animals & their lives realistically. It has hard things in it - and sad ones, but the flavor is much closer to realistic nature writing than to children's tearjerker. (I am told that the Disney adaptation is very different.)

 

The original Bambi is really more of a anti-hunting treatise. I was surprised when I read the unabridged version. Well-written, but there is definitely an agenda there.

 

No kidding. He's written a fair number of other books, and I can't think of one where he didn't manage to get in an anti-hunting poke at some point.

[helena]

I think it is important to have realistic nature writing in other forms.

an earlier thread:

 

I agree, even if they're sensitive, there's still a lot of great reading and exposure on these subjects.

 

Thank you so much for the suggestions, I appreciate it when people take the time to do that. :)

I'm going to Amazon now to read descriptions and reviews.

[pqr]

Try Gerald Durrell. Very funny books.