Picture Books and Younger Elementary
Catwings

Ursula K. Le Guin
(Juvenile Fiction - J Le)

Four young cats with wings leave the city slums in search of a safe place to live, finally meeting two children with kind hands. Recommended for ages 6–9.


Good Rosie!

Kate DiCamillo
(Juvenile Picture Books - EJ Dic)

When Rosie's owner takes her to the dog park, two dogs bound over and want to play, but she doesn't know what to do to make friends with them. (Illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss.) Recommended for ages 6-9


Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride

Kate DiCamillo
(Juvenile First Chapter Books - Dicamil)
Series: Mercy Watson: book 2

Mr. Watson's usual Saturday drive in his Cadillac with his favorite pig, Mercy, turns into an adventure when Mercy finds herself behind the wheel. Recommended for ages 6-9


A Room With a Zoo

Jules Feiffer
(Juvenile Fiction - J Feiffer)

Nine-year-old Julie loves animals. So much it seems that she's assembling a zoo in her room. But, what she really wants is a dog. Recommended for ages 6-9.


The Story of Diva and Flea

Mo Willems
(Juvenile First Chapter Books – J Willems)

In the bustling city of Paris, a small yet brave dog, Diva, and an adventurous cat named Flea become two unlikely friends. Recommended for ages 6-9


The Story of Ferdinand

Munro Leaf
(Juvenile Picture Books – EJ Leaf)

Ferdinand likes to sit quietly and smell the flowers, but one day he gets stung by a bee and his snorting and stomping convince everyone that he is the fiercest of bulls. Recommended for ages 3-6.


Older Elementary
Because of the Rabbit

Cynthia Lord
(Juvenile Fiction - J Lord)

Accompanying her game warden father on a routine call on the last night of summer before she ends homeschooling and starts public school for the first time, young Emma finds herself caring for a baby bunny while navigating a project with an animal-loving boy who does not quite fit in. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Because of Winn-Dixie

Kate DiCamillo
(Juvenile Fiction - J Dicamil)

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie. Recommended for ages 9-12.


The Capture

Kathryn Lasky
(Juvenile Fiction - J Lasky)
Series: Guardians of Ga'Hoole: book 1

Pushed from his nest, an owlet is captured by agents of the mysterious and ill-intentioned St. Aegolius Academy, where orphaned owls are brainwashed and enlisted in an evil attempt to take over the owl world. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Charlotte's Web

E.B. White
(Juvenile Fiction - J White)

When he discovers that he is destined to be someone's dinner, Wilbur the pig is desolate until his spider friend Charlotte decides to help him. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Kate DiCamillo
(Juvenile Fiction - J Dicamil)

Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Misty of Chincoteague

Marguerite Henry
(Juvenile Classics - J Henry)

Paul and his sister Maureen's determination to own a pony from the herd on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, is greatly increased when the Phantom and her colt are among the ponies rounded up for the yearly auction. Recommended for ages 9-12.


The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Beverly Cleary
(Juvenile Fiction - J Cleary)

A reckless young mouse named Ralph makes friends with a boy in room 215 of the Mountain View Inn and discovers the joys of motorcycling. Look for more Ralph the Mouse titles. Recommended for ages 9–12.


Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Robert C. O'Brien
(Juvenile Fiction - J Obr)

Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived. Recommended for ages 9-12.


The One and Only Ivan

Katherine Applegate
(Juvenile Fiction - J Applega)

When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Pax
Pax

Sara Pennypacker
(Juvenile Fiction – J Pennypa)

After being forced to give up his pet fox Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to leave home and get his best friend back. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Poppy

Avi
(Juvenile Fiction - J Avi)

*This item also available on Libby and Hoopla. Poppy the deer mouse urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to feed them all forever, but Mr. Ocax, a terrifying owl, has other ideas. Recommended for ages 9–12.


Silverwing

Kenneth Oppel
(Juvenile Fiction - J Op)

When a newborn bat named Shade but sometimes called "Runt" becomes separated from his colony during migration, he grows in ways that prepare him for even greater journeys. Look for more Silverwing saga titles. Recommended for ages 9-12.


Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness

Donna Bowman
(Juvenile Nonfiction - J 179.3 Bow)

This is a picture book biography of Dr. William Key, a former slave and self-trained veterinarian who taught his horse, Jim, to read and write. Together, they became one of the most famous traveling performance acts around the turn of the twentieth century. Recommended for ages 9–12.


A Wolf Called Wander

Rosanne Parry
(Juvenile Fiction - J Parry)

A young wolf cub separated from his pack journeys 1,000 miles across the Pacific Northwest, dealing with forest fires, hunters, highways, and hunger before finding a new home. Based on the true story of a wolf called OR-7. Recommended for ages 9–12.