Top Ten Tuesday, Animals from Books

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

This weeks theme is Animals from Books (these could be mythical, real, main characters, sidekicks, companions/pets, shifters, etc.) I read cozies, so this could be an easy list for me, but I wanted to share a variety of genres. Here goes:

How To Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

5 Stars from me and my kids! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

For the month of April, my theme was Middle Grade books, so I had to include at least one. I used to read this book to my class every year, and they loved it.

I still have a copy and will read it to my grandchildren as well. This is an awesome story and well, who wouldn’t enjoy a story about eating fried worms to win a bet.

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is another Middle Grade choice for me. I am not sure which animal I liked the best in this book. Between Wilbur, Templeton and Charlotte, I enjoyed them all.

This is another of those books that I read to my students every year. We did a lot of novel studies on this one, literature circles and also just read it aloud for enjoyment. Another winner for me.

War Horse by Micheal Morpurgo

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The last MG book I am going to highlight. War Horse was a book that is told from the POV of Joey, a horse. This is an historical fiction book that tells of how horses were taken from farms and used in the Calvary of the First World War.

This is an extremely poignant story and is told in a very sensitive and honest way. I did not ever read this book to my students, but I did share it with my children. Although it is a children’s story, I would not read it to younger children.

A Dog Names Christmas by Greg Kincaid

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As you can see from the title, the dog in this book is named Christmas. The story is about a developmentally delayed young man named Todd McCray. He works at the local animal shelter and concerned about the animals spending Christmas alone in the shelter. He begins a campaign to get people to take a dog home for the Christmas Holidays.

His family become short term fosters for a black lab that Todd names Christmas. This is the first book in this series that I came to love.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The title shares what kind of animals are in this book. Lily Owens flees her hometown in South Carolina after her stepmother insults three of the biggest racists in town. She heads north to a place she remembers going with her mother.

They are taken in by a trio of bee-keepers who share their life, their religion and their philosophy with Lily. She comes to love the buzzing of the bees and all they represent.

This was the first book by Sue Monk Kidd that I read and it began my love of her writing.

Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oogy was a dog that had been used as bait in dog fighting. He was described as the ugliest dog you ever saw. He was missing an ear and had half his face covered in scar tissue. Larry Levin and his twin sons, Dan and Noah, had just had their terminally ill cat put to rest when Oogy ran up to them. He captured their hearts.

I loved this story. It was all about looking beyond the surface, taking a chance and loving this rescue dog that had so much love in him. I absolutely loved this story and recommend it to dog lovers.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am not going to say much about this one except to say that there is a cat. Ove is a curmudgeon that has given up living until he gets new neighbours that pull him out of his miserable self. He takes in a cat that he finds out front of his house. It is not his cat, he doesn’t want the cat, but the cat becomes an important part of his life. I am not a cat person, but even I began to love that cat!

By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the first book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. There are 8 books in this series and I have read the first 6 and enjoyed them all.

Charles is the Library cat and he steals every scene he is in. I really enjoy this series and love Charles.

Murder at Redwood Cove by Janet Finsilver

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is another series that I enjoy. There are six books in this series and I have read them all. There are a few pets in this series, but the one that I love is Basset Hound, Fred. Fred belongs to Tommy, the son of the cook/housekeeper at the Inn. Tommy appears to be on the Autism Spectrum and Fred is similar to a service dog. As the series progresses, he also has some other talents that are revealed.

Assaulted Caramel by Amanda Flower

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I couldn’t conclude this post without adding the first book in the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. Jethro the Pig is one of the stars of this series. He is a Vietnamese Potbellied Pig, which is the support animal of the main character’s future mother-in-law. Jethro gets himself into many different situations and always makes me laugh.

This series is now up to 6 full novels and 3 novellas, with Jethro appearing in each one.

There you have it, ten books (3 the first in a series) that have animals playing a role in the stories. I have read all of these and gave them each 4 or 5 stars.

Have you read any of these books? What books have you read that contain memorable animals?