88 books like Imaginary Animals

This first complete English translation of a twelfth-century Latin bestiary has served me well as a partial map for following mythical beasts through time—from when the unicorn, griffin, and other fantastic creatures were considered part of God’s animal kingdom. T.  H. White supplements his translation of the moralized Christian bestiary with his own learned and entertaining footnotes and afterword. His “Family Tree” graph of Western animal studies highlights classical and medieval authors and ends with “Sir Thomas Browne’s Vulgar Errors,” the end of bestiary lore and the beginning of modern biology.

The unicorn and the dragon are still the two most ubiquitous animals to emerge from the host of fantastic creatures that began spreading through popular books, art, and film in the late 1970s. Years before the unicorn’s commercial popularity, Odell Shepard’s classic book, The Lore of the Unicorn, traced the millennia-long cultural transformations of the mysterious animal, beginning with an early traveler’s tale of the wild asses of India. 

I admire Shepard’s blending of personal voice with wide-ranging research and commentary. He opens his introduction with, “On the table before me, there lies a long straight wand of ivory,” a walking stick made of narwhal tusk, which for centuries had been accepted as unicorn horn.

As the late 1970s popularity of fantastic creatures continued to spread, professor Malcolm South edited a research guide that follows twenty imaginary animals and creatures through time. The substantial 1987 book is highly schematic in South’s earnest attempt to sum up what was known about particular mythical beasts and imaginary creatures during their recent surge in popularity. Illustrations, a glossary, and even a taxonomy supplement specialists’ articles and bibliographies about creatures from the unicorn and other major mythical animals to the vampire and werewolf, giants, and fairies. 

All my previous recommended books are cited in South’s sourcebook. I’ve been much indebted to it for research leads over the years and highly recommend it as a standard source for any reader following mythical beasts and other creatures.

Don’t be scared off by this 1646 book. It’s essential for anyone who follows mythical beasts through time. One of the best-known parts of Browne’s influential book is Book III: “Of divers popular and received Tenets concerning Animals, which examined, prove either false or dubious.” By discrediting the classical and medieval authorities that perpetuated them, he considers the griffin, basilisk, unicorn, amphisbaena, and phoenix to be “fabulous,” thus separating them from the actual animal kingdom after centuries of general belief.

The now obscure Alexander Ross, “Champion of the Ancients,” refuted Browne’s book virtually point for point in his 1652 Arcana Microcosmi. Ross lost that Battle of the Books between the ancients and the moderns. Mythical animals rarely appeared in eighteenth-century literature, but they rose again a century later.

Cryptids? Gnomes? Maps and charts? I’m in heaven.

I don’t know Kevin, but he feels like a kindred spirit who grew up on the same set of references. The Yeti Files books are hilarious and cool with a huge cast of cryptids (check the endpapers for a roll call). Marlon the skunk ape is my favorite.

I love the way the story of Blizz attending his family reunion and thwarting George the cryptozoologist is told: illustrated spreads, whooshing panels, Indiana Jones-esque dotted line traveling interludes, etc.

The rhythm and pace surf you from page to page. Reluctant readers don’t stand a chance.

I felt I needed to include at least one non-fiction book in my recommendations, and this title is a favorite. It is truly “encyclopedic” in its scope, encompassing first-hand accounts from all over the globe, as well as historical context, cultural references, physical evidence, and more. 

The author specializes in a number of cryptid subjects, and the level of research is impressive. Organized alphabetically and packed with photos, The Bigfoot Book is a go-to reference for all things Sasquatch. At 685 pages in length, you get a lot of bang for your buck!

I found this to be an excellent handbook, which explores the legend of the Yeti alongside other mysterious cryptid creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.

The authors present an entertaining and educational compendium on cryptids and give good arguments both for and against their existence. Seeing these opposing sides of the Yeti debate is great, and I highly recommend this book!

As research, I read a lot of books about werewolves. Some were bad, some were decent, and some were too academic. This one was, in the words of Goldilocks, just right. I loved that it was written in a language anyone could understand and that it wasn’t focused on just one geographic location or culture.

Douglas presents everything from Greek mythology to Norse, Japanese, American Indian, and others. He keeps his personal commentary to a minimum and presents the reader with much information. I see this book as a primer for understanding just about everything about the shapeshifter in legend and literature. If the fiction author has done his/her job well, the shapeshifter will have roots in something Douglas has told us about.

I love how this book has it all: action, adventure, romance, and humor in spades. From the opening words, the snarky humor hooked me. I picked up the book, wanting to dislike it, and the author won me over from the first page.

I love that the bad guys are bad, the good guys are (mostly) good, and people have to make hard decisions not just to survive but to save the world.

This was one of the first books I read with dragons in it. We follow a dragon named Firedrake as he ventures to find a place where dragons can live in peace forever. He is accompanied by his little brownie friend, Sorrel, and a boy named Ben. This book sparked my love of dragons, and to this day, I love to go back and read through the adventure that started it all.