Children's Book Suggestions | Animal Fantasy

Some of our favorite animal fantasy books for readers in Grades 2-7, telling traditional fantasy stories where animals are the protagonists. You can view more animal fantasy books for young readers in the library catalog.

For more fantasy book suggestions, check out our Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Mythology & Folklore book lists.

Updated June 6, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County)Oregon City Public Library
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The last
Applegate, Katherine
Paper Book
In this first book of an epic middle grade series, Katherine Applegate takes us on an unforgettable journey. A New York Times bestseller from the beloved author of the action-packed Animorphs series and the award-winning The One and Only Ivan. Byx is the youngest member of...

Katherine Applegate is one of the most prolific authors of animal stories for children! While The One and Only Ivan and others are more realistic, this one features human-like animals engaged in a classic fantasy quest. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The familiars
Epstein, Adam Jay.
Paper Book
For fans of Warriors and Wings of Fire comes a magical adventure story about a street cat who's mistaken for a wizard's familiar. "Whether furry, flippered or feathered you'll be taking a closer look at your family pet." --Michael Buckley, author of The Sisters Grimm and NERDS When...

Three animals are chosen to be familiars for young wizards in training and must learn to work together to protect their human companions. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Guardians of the Taiga
Hinojosa, Stacy
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller! From StacyPlays, creator of the mega-popular YouTube series Dogcraft, comes a thrilling illustrated novel about a girl raised by a pack of wolves and her quest to protect their shared forest home. The first in a new Minecraft-inspired...

A popular YouTuber and animal lover crafts a story about a young girl raised by wolves who works together with her animal companions to protect their home. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Into the wild
Hunter, Erin.
Ebook
Epic adventures. Fierce warrior cats. A thrilling fantasy world. It all begins here. Read the book that began a phenomenon--and join the legion of fans who have made Erin Hunter's Warriors series a #1 national bestseller. For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the...

A young housecat runs away to join a clan of warring cats in the woods. Easily the most popular animal fantasy series in the library! There is literally a new Erin Hunter book published every month, so you will never run out of books to read if you like the Warriors series and its spinoffs. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The taken
Iserles, Inbali
Paper Book
The first book in a thrilling fantasy trilogy starring one of the animal kingdom's most hunted heroes. Foxcraft is full of excitement and heart, and a touch of magic.Isla and her brother are two young foxes living just outside the lands of the furless -- humans. The life of a fox is filled with...

One of the secrets to Erin Hunter's prolific success is that she's actually multiple authors writing under a pen name! One of those authors, Inbali Iserles, took the skills she developed writing the Warriors books to create a story about urban foxes seeking to reunite with their parents. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The wind in the willows
Grahame, Kenneth
Paper Book
Since its beginnings as a series of stories told to Kenneth Grahame's young son, The Wind in the Willows has gone on to become one of the best-loved children's books of all time. The timeless story of Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger has delighted readers of all ages for more than eighty years....

While it's not an epic fantasy quest tale, this cozy classic features a group of humanesque animals living their best lives in the English countryside. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The capture
Lasky, Kathryn.
Audiobook

A group of imprisoned young owls must break free from their prison camp in this suspenseful tale for older elementary readers. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The haunting
Lasky, Kathryn
Paper Book
Newbery Honor-winning Kathryn Lasky, author of the bestselling Guardians of Ga'Hoole and Bears of Ice series, delivers a sweeping middle grade animal adventure with loyal beavers, a cultured swan, and ominous lynxes around every turn--a captivating story about heroism, loyalty, and the courage to...

While cats and mice have always been popular animal fantasy protagonists, we've been getting more and more unusual animals each year! Oregonians will be especially delighted by this series featuring an intrepid young beaver. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The wild ones
London, C. Alexander
Paper Book
For fans of Warriors, Spirit Animals, and Redwall--the next great animal fantasy adventure is here! Kit is a young raccoon who has lived his whole life under the Big Sky. But when a pack of hunting dogs destroy his home and kill his parents, Kit needs to escape.  ...

A young racoon from the wild learns to navigate city streets in this urban fantasy adventure. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Wild born
Mull, Brandon
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Mull comes Spirit Animals, an epic book series that leaps from the page into a riveting online game. Your book is the key to claim your spirit animal!In the world of Erdas, four children are about to discover if they have a spirit animal bond, a rare...

In a magical worlds where a handful of lucky 12-year-olds forge powerful bonds with magical animals, four young teens and their spirit companions set out to save the world. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Redwall
Jacques, Brian.
Paper Book
As the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey bask in the glorious Summer of the Late Rose, all is quiet and peaceful. But things are not as they seem. Cluny the Scourge--the evil one-eyed rat warlord, is ell-bent on destroying the tranquility as he prepares to fight a bloody battle for the ownership of...

A brave mouse monk helps defend his abbey home from a gang of marauding weasels in the first book of Brian Jaques' classic fantasy series. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)


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