My first novel Fire Bringer approaches storytelling and life through the eyes of the young animal hero, a brave stag called Rannoch, born with the mark of an oak leaf on his head and destined to free the deer from tyranny. An epic, it also tries to be as realistic as possible in describing both nature and human societies and so, I guess, draws inspiration from all the great books I have recommended here. It was followed by two books about wolves, The Sight and Fell, one much involving animals in The Telling Pool, and my most recent cry for environmental awareness and protection Scream of the White Bear.
Tolkien’s masterpiece is both an extraordinary act of imaginative storytelling and one of those vital bridges into the world of adult reading and writing. It had me so hooked at the age of twelve I read it three times, especially chapters like "The Race to Rivendale." On the human scale it, of course, contains vital themes of good and evil, but not enough is said about Tolkien’s approach to nature, animals, and the environment. Of course, there are those dark animalistic sides of us, from Orcs to Wargs and Gollum, but Tolkien’s entire ethos is deeply rooted in nature, from the all-powerful Tom Bombardill, to those magnificent if slow-moving trees, The Ents, and that triumphant cry of hope "the Eagles are coming."
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
Firstly, of course, what a title! In one sense London’s classic is not a fantasy at all, in the levels of realism and also political engagement that frames the astonishing and brutal story of Gold prospecting in the Klondike. But told through the eyes and ears of the wonderful sled-dog Buck, it is an absolute must for that vital literary and imaginative correspondence with real-life animal nature, as hard often as Human Societies, although in other ways much kinder and nobler. London’s own sympathies for both real animals and the American Indian are enshrined in the wonderfully described relationship with the wounded Buck and the human Thornton.
Puffin Classics bring together the best-loved stories to a new generation.
In The Call of the Wild life is good for Buck in Santa Clara Valley, where he spends his days eating and sleeping in the golden sunshine. But one day a treacherous act of betrayal leads to his kidnap, and he is forced into a life of toil and danger. Dragged away to be a sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold Yukon, Buck must fight for his survivial. Can he rise above his enemies and become the master of his realm once again?
Maybe I am prejudiced by the fact Richard Adams was nice enough to call my first novel one of the best anthropomorphic stories known to him, even if I don’t like the word much. But Watership Down, that epic tale of rabbits and the psychic, vulnerable Fiver, was most certainly an inspiration. Again, another great bridge into adult reading, with each chapter framed by quotes from world drama, stretching back to the Greeks. It is of course Adams’ skill at getting inside animals, giving them unique characters, reflecting our own, while staying true to animal habits, but also his page-turning understanding of drama that makes it a classic.
One of the best-loved children's classics of all time, this is the complete, original story of Watership Down.
Something terrible is about to happen to the warren - Fiver feels sure of it. And Fiver's sixth sense is never wrong, according to his brother Hazel. They had to leave immediately, and they had to persuade the other rabbits to join them.
And so begins a long and perilous journey of a small band of rabbits in search of a safe home. Fiver's vision finally leads them to Watership Down, but here they face their most difficult challenge of all .…
Old fashioned these days perhaps, echoing a very English landscape too, like me sometimes, Wind in The Willows is still an unmissable gem. The tale of the friendship between ratty, mole, and badger, and of course the irrepressible Mr. Toad, shines with a beautiful innocence, but also the pure lyricism of the writing. So producing one of my favorite chapters in all literature – "Piper At The Gates of Dawn." That addresses a particular spiritual element too, when the little animals have a vision of the great God Pan, too powerful for them to remember safely. Which underlines why animals are so important to children, reading about them too, and the threat of the growing nature of any consciousness and awareness. Literary magic.
Spend a season on the river bank and take a walk on the wild side . . .
Spring is in the air and Mole has found a wonderful new world. There's boating with Ratty, a feast with Badger and high jinx on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. The four become the firmest of friends, but after Toad's latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels?
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There are many ‘animal’ books I’d love to recommend and in one sense the American novella The Snow Goose is oddly set apart. It is not really about animals then, except that the Snow goose, a symbol of nature and freedom, is indeed about the Spirit itself. It is one that moved me very deeply. Set at the beginning of the Second World War in England it is essentially about the strange friendship between a girl, Fritha, and the alienated hunchback artist Philip Rhayader and in the healing of a Snow Goose, a lyric coming of age story. It is also a cry of love and gentleness, amid the horrors of life and war, for the healing and understanding of the wounded and outcast.
Classic storytelling from a bestselling author. Gallico's most famous story, THE SNOW GOOSE, is set in the wild, desolate Essex marshes and is an intense and moving tale about the relationship between a hunchback and a young girl. THE SMALL MIRACLE is a contemporary fable about a young boy's love for his dangerously ill donkey.
In the frozen North, the entire Ice World is under threat when Uteq, a Polar Bear cub, is born with a strange mark and the ability to know others' deepest fears. Is he the Saviour foretold by the Warrior Storytellers, the mysterious Order of the Fellagorn, whose voices have the power to affect life itself, or a victim forced on an impossible quest into the heart of Evil itself?
With a cast of unforgettable characters and the warring themes of science and religion, David Clement-Davies creates another thrilling epic in the tradition of classics like Fire Bringer and The Sight and Fell. Indeed, this is a novel both drawing on those stories and taking the journey beyond.
Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.
Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…
From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?
