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Animal stories for kids that are realistic but not sad?

38 replies

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 02/05/2017 10:34

Any ideas?
Ds2 is obsessed with animals and will read any level from picture books to adult if it engages him - his recent top reads have been The Penguin Lessons and Humphrey The Classroom Hamster, but since he's into nature generally I think he would enjoy something more to do with the life of the animal in the wild.

However, he is a bit wimpy about death, so Watership Down and Ring of Bright Water are definitely out.

Can anyone think of anything? Thanks!

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TartanDMs · 11/07/2017 23:19

I liked the Silver Brumby too, and the Blinky Bill series about a koala but not sure if they are too young? My Aussie cousin used to send me them.

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 11/07/2017 23:16

Has anyone mentioned Willard Price? His "Adventure" series is fab. They are a little old fashioned now, but all the facts about the animals are correct, and included in the story so the reader learns without realising iyswim. The first one is called "Amazon Adventure" and there are 13 in total.

pollyhemlock · 10/07/2017 20:14

One Dog and his Boy by Eva Ibbotson is a lovely read. Also 101 Dalmations holds up very well, though Cruella De Ville is pretty scary!

RWaller · 10/07/2017 15:32

Hi Countess,

I'm on the lookout for young readers to get their views about an animal book I brought out last month. I guarantee no sad bits in this book. It's placed as 5-8 but that's more down to the restrictions placed by the hosting websites. It's suitable for 5-7 year olds as a read with an adult and for 7-9 year olds as independent readers. Link here: www.smashwords.com/books/view/718114

Let me know if you're interested and I can send you a freebie code. Would love to hear what your son thinks. :)

k8music · 11/06/2017 13:42

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Katherine+Blake&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Katherine+Blake&sort=relevancerank&tag=mumsnetforum-21 Hi The lonely little Rabbit by Katherine Blake is a nice read - it's not too long and has a lovely moral. Happy ending!

SUPERSAL119 · 11/06/2017 04:24

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SusieFlo · 12/05/2017 13:32

Thanks to the person who suggested Akimbo. I've bought a copy for my son and, after reading a few pages, it looks ideal.

Cornishblues · 09/05/2017 19:53

This is a beautiful picture book we found in the library about the life of dolphins- no sadness, beautiful illustrations and really informative. www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Dolphin-Nature-Storybooks-Nicola-Davies/1406321192?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Fink · 08/05/2017 21:04

We're reading The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop, by Clare Balding, at the moment. DD loves it. I found it a bit clunky to start with (deliberate contemporary youth culture references and obvious attempts to educate) but it's got much better as the story progresses. I check the ending and there aren't any real sad bits, a bit of bullying but the character deals with it well and it passes. It's probably more 'girly', quite horsey-rah, but I think boys would enjoy it too (disclaimer: I don't have any ds).

SusieFlo · 08/05/2017 21:01

Apologies, I just noticed that you were after realistic, rather than fantastic, stories. Most of my suggestions fail on realism and are heavily anthropomorphised.

SummerSazz · 08/05/2017 20:56

This set is quite good but out of stock with the book people.

Animal stories for kids that are realistic but not sad?
SusieFlo · 08/05/2017 20:51

My son also loved 'Blob' by David Walliams. It's quite short and was one of the £1 books for World Book Day. It's a humorous tale of an animal-loving boy with a funny face who befriends a blob fish and learns how to deal with bullies.

SusieFlo · 08/05/2017 20:44

PS - the Julian Clary is brilliant, and there are two sequels. The Pig Diary one is also funny (especially for kids who like poo jokes!)

SusieFlo · 08/05/2017 20:43

Another collection that my son likes right now are the Dr Seuss Learning Library ones, which has loads of titles about animals. They're educational but in a lighthearted way, all written in verse, with lots of pictures.

Original poster
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 08/05/2017 20:11

I think I quite fancy the Julian Clary one myself!
Akimbo has gone down really well.
We have the Johnny Morris Just So Stories cds - they are a favourite with the whole family.

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Winifredgoose · 08/05/2017 20:03

Just saw this, and thought I should update. Having read the next twenty pages of Michael Morpergo's the Butterfly Lion, it is extremely sadSad. It is such a shame as his books are beautifully written. Does anyone know of any of his other animal books which aren't so miserable?
After reading the thread, I ordered the Akimbo books, they arrived and look brilliant.

Original poster
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 08/05/2017 19:57

Ooh, is there a penguin one? If I can find him that he might forgive me for The Animals Of Farthing Wood - turns out all the otters die Shock

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SusieFlo · 08/05/2017 17:05

Another recommendation from me is Jill Tomlinson who wrote a series of animal books, including 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark.'. I got a box set of her animal books, which included stories about aardvarks, otters, penguins, etc.

SusieFlo · 08/05/2017 17:01

I came onto this thread with an almost identical question. My son is also animal mad and soon to turn 6, so I was after recommendations.

MY response to the original poster is to be careful with Morpurgo as a lot of his stories are a bit on the sad side. (Also there are quite a few animal deaths in Farthing Wood).

If your son likes silly humour as much as mine, I can recommend 'The Bolds' by Julian Clary (about a group of hyenas pretending to be human in suburban Teddington) and also the Top Secret Diary of Pig by Emer Stamp. Both made my son laugh out loud.

Backingvocals · 07/05/2017 11:33

A favourite from my childhood is Animal Family by Randall Jarrell. I read it to my DCs recently and they loved it.

Also DCs enjoy the Just So Stories - How the elephant got his trunk etc. There's a brilliant audiobook narrated by Johnny Morris if that would work better.

user1494149651 · 07/05/2017 11:21

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Leeds2 · 05/05/2017 19:13

Dr Doolittle (maybe not realistic!).

Lucy Daniels' Animal Ark series. There are loads of them! Some are based in South Africa and Australia, which may suit. She also does the Dolphin Diaries series,

BlueChampagne · 05/05/2017 13:28

The Travels of Oggy?

Second Dick King-Smith, Olga da Polga, and the Owl that was afraid of the dark. A few wry grown-up moments in that one!

Original poster
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 04/05/2017 20:43

Well, he is currently absorbed in Akimbo Smile
And then dd wandered in and remarked that she used to have an Akimbo audiobook and it was brilliant but it must have got lost when we moved house.
I had no idea they even existed before this thread! Yay Mumsnet!

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