Animals in Literature

Published in 1962, Travels With Charley: In Search of America is a narrative travelogue by John Steinbeck. The book follows a cross-country road trip the author took with his dog, a brown poodle named Charley. They travel in a camper-style pickup truck named Rosinante, which Steinbeck had custom built for the trip. Steinbeck embarked on the journey because he felt disconnected from the larger picture of American life after years of living in New York... Read Travels With Charley Summary

... Read T. Rex and the Crater of Doom Summary

Turtle in Paradise is a 2010 historical fiction children’s novel by Jennifer L. Holm. Set in the Florida Keys during the Great Depression, the novel follows an 11-year-old girl’s struggles and successes as she visits her aunt and cousins in the town where her mother grew up. The novel won the Golden Kite Award and is a Newbery Honor Book as well as a Junior Library Guild selection. Other works by this author include The... Read Turtle in Paradise Summary

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a science fiction adventure novel by French author Jules Verne. It was originally published in serialized form in 1869 under the title Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, and later as a book in 1870. In 1873, the first English-language translation was released. The book was highly acclaimed at the time of its publication and was one of several successful novels by Verne. Others include Journey to the... Read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Summary

... Read Unlikely Animals Summary

... Read Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer Summary

... Read Varjak Paw Summary

War Horse is a children’s historical fiction novel by Michael Morpurgo. The book was first published in Great Britain in 1982 by Kaye & Ward and was a runner-up for the Whitbread Book Award in the same year. The book is told from the point of view of a young horse named Joey and chronicles his journey and the relationships he builds with his various owners during World War I. The beloved novel is a... Read War Horse Summary

Published in 1972, Watership Down, by Richard Adams, is a fantasy-adventure novel for middle-grade readers and above that follows a group of rabbits as they search for a new home and defend it against enemies. Widely considered a children’s literature classic, the book is also beloved by adults for its engaging characters, action sequences, and lyrical descriptions of landscape. Its resemblance to great human sagas such as the Trojan War, the biblical Exodus, and the... Read Watership Down Summary

We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves is Karen Joy Fowler’s seventh novel. The book was first published in 2013. The following year, it won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Fowler said that the book takes inspiration from a real 1930s experiment. In an interview with Carmen Maria Machado published in The American Reader, Fowler states that she believes that using animals for research purposes is wrong, and... Read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Summary

... Read West with Giraffes Summary

... Read Whales Weep Not! Summary

... Read When the Moon Hatched Summary

Wilson Rawls was born in 1913 in the Ozark Mountains in the Oklahoma/Arkansas region of the United States, where Rawls time spent roaming the hills with his dogs. His level of formal education left him unsure of his formal writing ability, and he disposed of his manuscripts. However, his wife encouraged him to start again, leading to the publication of Where the Red Fern Grows in 1961 and The Summer of the Monkeys 15 years... Read Where the Red Fern Grows Summary

White Fang (1906) is a short novel by American author Jack London. The novel explores themes of survival, nature versus nurture, and improving oneself through discipline and adaptability. White Fang’s protagonist is a wild-born wolfdog named White Fang whose struggle for survival and eventual domestication comprise the novel’s narrative arc. London’s novel challenges humanity’s claim to superiority over nature and celebrates animals’ resilience, simple logic, and instinct. White Fang has been adapted into over a... Read White Fang Summary

... Read Whittington Summary

... Read Why Fish Don't Exist Summary

... Read Wildoak Summary

... Read Wild Wings Summary

Wildwood is a 2011 children's fantasy novel written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, his wife. Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the folk-rock band The Decemberists. Ellis created album cover art for her husband’s band and provided more than 80 illustrations for Wildwood. Her artwork employs a dark but whimsical tone and has been compared to Edward Gorey.Wildwood was a New York Times best seller and won the 2012 Middle... Read Wildwood Summary