I’m trying to track down some of the books I read and enjoyed as a kid. It seems I was addicted to a certain genre that I’ve never really seen described elsewhere, let alone discussed: novels (or, as the kids I know these days call them, “chapter books”) narrated by animals. Specifically, novels framed as autobiographical accounts of a young animal. The most classic example is of course Black Beauty. But I remember reading a novel about a young camel, from which I learned a great deal about camels and desert living; one about a young lion; one about a zebra; and several more. These novels were extremely informative, not just entertaining. Again, as exemplified by *Black Beauty rather than Wind in the Willows.
I’d love to hear from others of you who are/were fans of this genre, but even more I’d love to hear suggestions of titles. I’d like to reminisce a bit, but also I have a young friend (she’s “five and three quarteres”) who is a great reader and animal lover, and I’d like to share some of these with her.
Thanks.
I don’t know if it is what you are looking for, but I really enjoyed the short stories of that great early Canadian naturalist E.T. Seaton, collected as “Wild Animals I Have Known”.
The animals do not exactly narrate, but they are told from the animal’s point of view - not highly anthromophized, but Seaton’s attempt to tell the story as if the animal could describe it’s actual experiences. And Seaton definitely knew about animals.
I re-read them a little while ago, and what struck me most was that they all, almost without exception, end in tragedy - Seaton himself remarks on it in his introduction. A bit depressing, but as a kid I loved them.
For a more amusing (albeit less informative) take on the genre, check out the Bunnicula books. There was a whole series of them, narrated by a dog who lives with a paranoid cat. They may be more to your young friend’s interest and vocabulary range, making for a good intro to stuff like Black Beauty.
There’s another one called Totally Disgusting or something similar that Mom had on her shelf at school for ages. It was about a cat named Mewkiss (pronounced mucus, thus the title) and a dog, and was narrated by one of the animals.