10 books like Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast

By Sue Whiting, Rebecca Crane (illustrator),

Here are 10 books that authors have personally recommended if you like Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast. Shepherd is a community of 9,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Case of the Missing Marquess

Malka Older Author Of The Mimicking of Known Successes

From the list on Sherlock Holmes retellings.

Who am I?

I’ve obviously read a lot of Holmes retellings. Part of the impetus behind my new novella was trying to figure out why I was so attracted to them. Part of it, I realized, is the neurodivergence aspect: fundamental to the Holmes story is the idea of someone who thinks differentlyand who finds a way to interact with the world that uses that as an asset. The other component I love is the Holmes-Watson dynamic. Whether it's romantic or not, the development of a relationship of affection between two people who think very differently is an emotional counterpoint to plot-driven mysteries. Those elements—along with stellar writing, gripping mysteries, and characters I love spending time with.

Malka's book list on Sherlock Holmes retellings

Discover why each book is one of Malka's favorite books.

Why did Malka love this book?

This book again gives us an outsider’s perspective on the great detective, this time from the perspective of his underestimated younger sister.

Adrift in a detailed, exciting, and often horrifying Victorian London, Enola must not only search for her missing mother - and the titular missing marques - but also avoid the constraining, dangerous “help” offered by her well-meaning but obliviously sexist older brothers.

To do so, she learns how to turn seeming weaknesses into strengths, in entertaining and often very relatable ways. And I feel compelled to say that while the movie is fine, the book is much better.

By Nancy Springer,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Case of the Missing Marquess as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Introducing London's newest and greatest detective: Enola Holmes - the book that inspired the film, starring Millie Bobby Brown.

Read the series before the new film lands!

When Enola Holmes, sister to the detective Sherlock Holmes, discovers her mother has disappeared, she quickly embarks on a journey to London in search of her. But nothing can prepare her for what awaits.

Because when she arrives, she finds herself involved in the kidnapping of a young marquess, fleeing murderous villains, and trying to elude her shrewd older brothers - all while attempting to piece together clues to her mother's strange disappearance.…


Sherlock Cat and the Missing Mousie

By Heather Edwards, Amanda Downs (illustrator),

Book cover of Sherlock Cat and the Missing Mousie

Debra Williams Author Of Ah-Fur, Super Sleuth - The Case of The Missing Moggies

From the list on mystery and action for young readers.

Who am I?

I am an Australian author and have been an avid reader all of my life. One of the topics I particularly enjoy is mystery and adventure. I became a writer to engage children’s imaginations and encourage them in their reading. So many struggle, as I discovered whilst assisting in classrooms over many years. Children love secrets and mysteries, and this is a great way to draw them in. Other themes such as teamwork and friendship are just as important, so I try to cover all bases. I hope you and your young readers enjoy my recommendations.

Debra's book list on mystery and action for young readers

Discover why each book is one of Debra's favorite books.

Why did Debra love this book?

This is a fun Chapter Book title, told through the narration of a cat, Fluffy, otherwise known as John Watson. His Siamese buddy, Spot, declares himself to be Dr. Sherlock Holmes, based on the fact that the man who owns them loves everything Sherlock and reads stories about the famous detective aloud.

I recommend this book because I loved both the cleverness of the cat characters and their silly moments, where they are rather like kids in their behaviour! Having had cats and children myself, as well as working with children over a 35-year-period, I can see the connection. It also has a strong bond of friendship throughout the story.

By Heather Edwards, Amanda Downs (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sherlock Cat and the Missing Mousie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"From now on, I am going to be Sherlock Holmes, the World's Greatest Cat Detective."With those words, my friend Spot decided he would become a crime-solving kitty."And you, of course," he said dramatically. "Will be my faithful friend, Dr. John Watson. The one who writes down all of my adventures and shares them with the world! We'll be famous! Everyone will know the name 'Sherlock Holmes, The World's Greatest Cat Detective!'" "Mm hmm," I agreed. I wasn't too worried. I was sure that, by morning, Spot would have forgotten all about becoming Sherlock Holmes.Boy, oh boy, was I wrong.


Juno Jones, Word Ninja

By Kate Gordon, Sandy Flett (illustrator),

Book cover of Juno Jones, Word Ninja

Debra Williams Author Of Ah-Fur, Super Sleuth - The Case of The Missing Moggies

From the list on mystery and action for young readers.

Who am I?

I am an Australian author and have been an avid reader all of my life. One of the topics I particularly enjoy is mystery and adventure. I became a writer to engage children’s imaginations and encourage them in their reading. So many struggle, as I discovered whilst assisting in classrooms over many years. Children love secrets and mysteries, and this is a great way to draw them in. Other themes such as teamwork and friendship are just as important, so I try to cover all bases. I hope you and your young readers enjoy my recommendations.

Debra's book list on mystery and action for young readers

Discover why each book is one of Debra's favorite books.

Why did Debra love this book?

This is an engaging chapter book for younger readers, (especially reluctant readers), whom this story is aimed at. Kate Gordon has cleverly used her protagonist Juno Jones (who hates reading), to create a fun story with her class diary. She battles her antagonist class bullies deftly. And by thinking that her school would be closing, the option to keep it open by reading and creating class journals becomes a reality. As a new writer of chapter books myself, I loved it. And if it creates a new generation of readers, even more wonderful. Recommended for the 8-10-year-old readership.

By Kate Gordon, Sandy Flett (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Juno Jones, Word Ninja as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


With the Passion of a Pig

By Donna Sager Cowan, SAMBYBooks Illustrator (illustrator),

Book cover of With the Passion of a Pig

Debra Williams Author Of Ah-Fur, Super Sleuth - The Case of The Missing Moggies

From the list on mystery and action for young readers.

Who am I?

I am an Australian author and have been an avid reader all of my life. One of the topics I particularly enjoy is mystery and adventure. I became a writer to engage children’s imaginations and encourage them in their reading. So many struggle, as I discovered whilst assisting in classrooms over many years. Children love secrets and mysteries, and this is a great way to draw them in. Other themes such as teamwork and friendship are just as important, so I try to cover all bases. I hope you and your young readers enjoy my recommendations.

Debra's book list on mystery and action for young readers

Discover why each book is one of Debra's favorite books.

Why did Debra love this book?

This is a super adventure, which, whilst fiction, at its heart tackles some serious issues via the means of its five animal Superheroes: Simon, Catt, Patty, Freddy, and Bash. Issues such as bullying, not fitting in, being without a family, missing animals, and neglected children. I felt a real connection and empathy with the characters, who work as a group to solve a mystery and make the world a better place. Young readers will enjoy this tale where good wins over all obstacles and dishonesty. There are strong emotional moments, that many children experience in their lives. Well recommended, especially for the 8-12 age group.

By Donna Sager Cowan, SAMBYBooks Illustrator (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked With the Passion of a Pig as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Superhero School squad return for their third adventure.

Mrs Gee is missing and no one knows why. When Patty Porter, tech-savvy pig and team member tracks Mrs. Gee’s phone to the same spot where Catt appeared weeks before, the squad immediately go to check it out.

The team find the portal the carried Catt to Sweet Meadows and the monkeys said lead to the human world of California. Their plan? Find Mrs. Gee and the missing animals sold by the monkeys.

Unfortunately, the squad is in for a big surprise when they exit the portal. Only Catt remains in…


South!

By Ernest Shackleton,

Book cover of South!: The Story of Shackleton's, 1914-1917

Brenda Clough Author Of Revise the World

From the list on British explorers freezing to death in Antarctica.

Who am I?

I'm a science fiction writer. If you write about time travel, one of the things you have to worry about is changing the past, the ‘gun for a dinosaur’ effect. If you go to the past and kill that dinosaur, will it affect the present? Maybe that dinosaur was the ancestor of all mammals. So, if you want to steal something from the past and bring it to now, you have to choose carefully. Something that has left no biological footprint. When I got that far, I remembered that Titus Oates walked off into the storm in Antarctica, never to be seen again, to save his companions. His body is still out there, frozen in a glacier … or is it?

Brenda's book list on British explorers freezing to death in Antarctica

Discover why each book is one of Brenda's favorite books.

Why did Brenda love this book?

Ernest Shackleton was Scott’s rival and companion, the one who was smart enough not to die. A later Antarctic explorer, Sir Raymond Priestly, famously said, “For scientific discovery give me Scott. For speed and efficiency of travel, give me Amundsen. But when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.” Shackleton’s last expedition was the stuff of legend. His ship the Endurance was trapped in the ice for ten months, and finally crushed by the ice and sunk. Shackleton marshalled his men to march across the floes dragging their boat, and then they sailed across the polar seas to Elephant Island where they finally were rescued more than two years after they set out. It’s an almost unbelievable feat.

By Ernest Shackleton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked South! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

After the conquest of the South Pole by Amundsen, who, by a narrow margin of days only, was in advance of the British Expedition under Scott, there remained but one great main object of Antarctic journeyings—the crossing of the South Polar continent from sea to sea. When I returned from the Nimrod Expedition on which we had to turn back from our attempt to plant the British flag on the South Pole, being beaten by stress of circumstances within ninety-seven miles of our goal, my mind turned to the crossing of the continent, for I was morally certain that either…


No Horizon Is So Far

By Liv Arnesen, Ann Bancroft, Cheryl Dahle

Book cover of No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Historic Journey Across Antarctica

Keri Blakinger Author Of Corrections in Ink: A Memoir

From the list on to read in prison.

Who am I?

Now, I’m a journalist who covers prisons—but a decade ago I was in prison myself. I’d landed there on a heroin charge after years of struggling with addiction as I bumbled my way through college. Behind bars, I read voraciously, almost as if making up for all the assignments I’d left half-done during my drug years. As I slowly learned to rebuild and reinvent myself, I also learned about recovery and hope, and the reality of our nation’s carceral system really is. Hopefully, these books might help you learn those things, too.

Keri's book list on to read in prison

Discover why each book is one of Keri's favorite books.

Why did Keri love this book?

This book is hard to find, but it was in the Tompkins County Jail Library and I fell in love on the first page, when the authors began describing the process of finding the inner strength to finish a seemingly impossible journey.  In their case, the journey was an Antarctic expedition—but the words felt surprisingly germane to my own journey through the legal system.

“Success on an expedition (as in life),” the authors wrote, “isn’t about brute strength, or even endurance, but resilience: the ability to remind oneself, over and over, of the joy of living, even amid the greatest hardship.”

I copied those words into the inside of a notebook and read them back to myself again and again until I’d nearly memorized them. Before jail, it wasn’t even the sort of thing I would have typically read. But being locked up forced me to try out books I…

By Liv Arnesen, Ann Bancroft, Cheryl Dahle

Why should I read it?

1 author picked No Horizon Is So Far as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The extraordinary story of the first two women to cross Antarctica

The fascinating chronicle of Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft's dramatic journey as the first two women to cross Antarctica, No Horizon Is So Far follows the explorers from the planning of their expedition through their brutal trek from the Norwegian sector all the way to McMurdo Station as they walked, skied, and ice-sailed for almost three months in temperatures reaching as low as -35 DegreesF, all while towing their 250-pound supply sledges across 1,700 miles of ice full of dangerous crevasses. Through website transmissions and satellite phone calls, Ann…


Skating To Antarctica

By Jenny Diski,

Book cover of Skating To Antarctica

James Withey Author Of How To Tell Depression to Piss Off: 40 Ways to Get Your Life Back

From the list on manage bloody depression.

Who am I?

I’m a Brighton based writer. I’ve lived with bloody depression and frigging anxiety, since a child. I’m the founder of The Recovery Letters project, which publishes online letters from people recovering from depression, addressed to those experiencing it. It was published as a book in 2017 and Cosmopolitan named it "One of the 12 mental health books everyone should read". I also edited What I Do to Get Through: How to Run, Swim, Cycle, Sew, or Sing Your Way Through DepressionMy fourth book, How to Tell Anxiety to Sod Off, is due out in 2022.

James' book list on manage bloody depression

Discover why each book is one of James' favorite books.

Why did James love this book?

This isn’t a traditional travel book and not a traditional memoir about depression, but a combination of both. Her journey to Antarctica becomes a metaphor for her mental health struggles throughout her life, starting from childhood. 

What I love about this book, and her writing in general, is the dark humour, her acerbic observations and true understanding of how paralysing and perilous depression can be. She understands how painful depression is, the depths it can take you to and seeing your own darkness reflected by someone else is both comforting and validating.

By Jenny Diski,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Skating To Antarctica as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'I was so absorbed by her writing it was unreal . . . I find myself hungry to find the next morsel of who Jenny was and what her life was like' EMILIA CLARKE (on Why Didn't You Just Do What You Were Told?)

This strange and brilliant book recounts Jenny Diski's journey to Antarctica, intercut with another journey into her own heart and soul . . . a book of dazzling variety, which weaves disquisitions on indolence, truth, inconsistency, ambiguousness, the elephant seal, Shackleton, boredom and over and over again memory, into a sparse narrative, caustic observation and vivid…


The Coldest March

By Susan Solomon,

Book cover of The Coldest March

Brenda Clough Author Of Revise the World

From the list on British explorers freezing to death in Antarctica.

Who am I?

I'm a science fiction writer. If you write about time travel, one of the things you have to worry about is changing the past, the ‘gun for a dinosaur’ effect. If you go to the past and kill that dinosaur, will it affect the present? Maybe that dinosaur was the ancestor of all mammals. So, if you want to steal something from the past and bring it to now, you have to choose carefully. Something that has left no biological footprint. When I got that far, I remembered that Titus Oates walked off into the storm in Antarctica, never to be seen again, to save his companions. His body is still out there, frozen in a glacier … or is it?

Brenda's book list on British explorers freezing to death in Antarctica

Discover why each book is one of Brenda's favorite books.

Why did Brenda love this book?

Author Susan Solomon is a senior scientist with the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. She has uncovered what I believe is the real reason why Scott’s party couldn’t stagger back to safety. In the polar regions, the reason is always the climate. Even if you prepare carefully and well, sometimes it’s just too cold for human life. Scott and four companions were fighting an unbeatable foe, and they knew it. They died gallantly anyway, which is why a hundred years later we haven’t forgotten them. Solomon’s book came out in 2001, and she brings the tools of modern climate science to bear on Scott’s fate.

By Susan Solomon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Coldest March as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale." So penned Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1912 as he confronted defeat and death in the crippling subzero temperatures of Antarctica. In this riveting book, Susan Solomon finishes the interrupted tale of Scott and his British expedition, depicting the staggering 900-mile trek to the South Pole and resolving the debate over the journey's failure.

"An absorbing, fascinating read . . . a book that will appeal to the explorer in everyone."-Sally Ride

"Solomon argues her case well, in exact and graceful prose."-Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World

"Persuasive. .…


Book cover of How Did It All Start? Where Did We Come From?

Marion Dane Bauer Author Of The Stuff of Stars

From the list on the origins of our universe.

Who am I?

My expertise on the origins of our universe comes out of fascination, nothing more. I am a long-time children’s writer who began my approach to this topic with awe. Just awe. In order to write The Stuff of Stars I read widely to expand my own understanding. A single line in this text can come out of hours of reading. The books I’m suggesting here, though, are not the scientific ones that informed my telling. Rather, I have searched out books that are exceptionally creative, accessible, interesting. Some are for the very young and some for those who share their learning with the very young.  

Marion's book list on the origins of our universe

Discover why each book is one of Marion's favorite books.

Why did Marion love this book?

This fascinating book presents science side by side with creation stories drawn from every part of the world. Ghosh’s scientific explanations of the origins of our universe are succinct and clear. He tells us what is known about our beginnings, what is supposed, and what we do not know and may never understand. And he lays out creation stories from many parts of the world along with information about the cultures from which those stories came. How Did It All Start? is perfect for older children or for adults who want to deepen their understanding of both the science and the myths that surround our beginnings.

By Biku Ghosh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How Did It All Start? Where Did We Come From? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How did it all start? What was there in the beginning? What exactly is the universe? The brilliant stars, distant galaxies, the sun, the moon and our planet Earth. Where did it all come from, and what is its future? The Big Bang is a cornerstone theory of modern cosmology. This book tries to give a simplified understanding to our curious readers.

Take a look at when and how life started and evolved? How, where and when did the humans arrive? What was the journey of humans out of Africa and peopling of the rest of the world like? What…


Below Zero

By Dan Smith,

Book cover of Below Zero

Chris Callaghan Author Of The Great Chocoplot

From the list on reluctant readers to discover a love of reading.

Who am I?

I didn’t read much when I was young. But I’ve always loved stories, and found them in TV, films, and comics. It wasn’t until I was older that I found that books can contain the most amazing adventures that connect with your imagination and makes them seem even more real than on the big screen. Discovering children’s books with my daughter, and writing my own, I wished I could have read more when I was young. I try my best to encourage young people to find the joy in reading, in the hope that they don’t miss out on all those amazing stories.

Chris' book list on reluctant readers to discover a love of reading

Discover why each book is one of Chris' favorite books.

Why did Chris love this book?

This is a book for older readers who love action and adventure. All of Dan Smith’s books are dynamic and engrossing stories, but as I’ve always been drawn to colder climates, I think this is my favourite. The breathless action takes place at Outpost Zero in Antarctica where secrets and all kinds of new technology are discovered. 

I’m a huge film fan and could definitely imagine this as a big-screen blockbuster. But be warned: be prepared for thrills and chills!

By Dan Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Below Zero as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Zak's plane crash-lands on Outpost Zero, a small Antarctic research
base in one of the most isolated places on Earth, he discovers
a cold, dark nightmare. The power's out and the people who
live there have disappeared. Worse, as he searches for answers, bizarre
visions suggest a link to something else - deep beneath the
ice - which only he can understand .


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Antarctica, pigs, and Europe?

9,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Antarctica, pigs, and Europe.

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