Xander's Animal Themed Chapter Book Recommendations

written by Xander P. Shah

This summer the kids have been voracious readers, exploring new genres, series and even re-reading books. Thanks to borrowing e-books on OverDrive and our neighborhood book-sharing community they were never had a shortage, and even when hunkered down during a pandemic, they felt like they visited a different world everyday! We decided to share their recommendations and reviews with family and friends - we hope you will in turn share yours!

This is the first post, written by Xander, in their series of blog posts!

Do you like to learn about animals?

Do you care about animal preservation?

Do you enjoy stories where animals are personified? 

I do, because I enjoy learning and thinking about animals and nature. Ever since I was little, I pretended to be animals. My favorite creatures are turtles, owls, monkeys, penguins, ostriches, lemurs, sloths, manatees and elephants, to name a few…or several. In fact, I have even dressed up as many of them for Halloween. 

Also, every genius project I have created relates to animals. For my 3ʳᵈ grade project, I researched and presented on the ring-tailed lemurs. One interesting fact I learned was that they mark their territory by rubbing their stinky scent on the trees from their wrists.  In 4ᵗʰ grade, my project was about the Frozen Zoo, a conservation method that uses cryobiology, which is freezing cells at 196 degrees Celsius so that the cells become frozen in time. Then, when scientists want to use those cells, they can thaw and use them to bring back genetic diversity and later bring back endangered or extinct animals in an ethical way.  I first learned about the Frozen Zoo listening to the Overheard at National Geographic podcast that you can find here.  You can also learn more about the Frozen Zoo located in San Diego.

If you like learning fun facts like these but in the setting of a fictional story, then I have the perfect book recommendations for you!

FunJungle by Stuart Gibbs

FunJungle is a realistic mystery series about saving animals at a zoo/amusement park. Each book is about saving a different endangered or vulnerable species. Read them in this order.

Belly up (Hippopotamus)

Poached (Koala)

Big Game (Rhinoceros)

Pandamonium (Panda)

Lion Down (Cougar)

Books by Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo personifies animals in her books and makes the characters come to life through hilarious stories with good guys, bad guys, silly characters, and adventures.

Tales of Despereaux

Flora & Ulysses 

The Magician’s Elephant

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Books by Katherine Applegate

Katherine Applegate also personifies animals, but her stories are more emotional and also about human relationships with animals.  Here are a few favorites:

The One and Only Ivan

Crenshaw

The Endling: Read The Last first; and  The First, last.

Gorilla Dawn by Gill Lewis

This book is realistic fiction where you will learn about life in the rebel areas of The Congo and two children who are captured by rebels.  Those children are trying to save gorillas from their rebel captors.  

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brian

This book is about a family of mice and their journey to their summer house so they can survive.  

If you are looking for a place to start, my favorites are FunJungle, The Endling and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.  

If you are a younger reader or audiobook listener, I recommend you start with Flora & Ulysses because its funny.  And if you want to find a good first chapter book to read, try The One and Only Ivan because it’s an easy, fast read. 

Borrowing the books from your local library is best or we encourage you to support a local bookseller using this website: www.bookshop.org.

Note: You can also check the lexile levels of these books and more at Lexile.