Armstrong, Alan. Whittington. Whittington, a feline descendant of Dick Whittington’s famous cat of English folklore, appears at a rundown barnyard plagued by rats and restores harmony while telling his ancestor’s story. (Level T)
Avi. Ragweed. Ragweed, a young country mouse, leaves his family and travels to the big city, where he finds excitement and danger and sees cats for the first time. (Level U)
Avi. The Mayor of Central Park. Oscar Westerwit, a squirrel who loves baseball and Broadway musicals, fights back when a gangster rat named Big Daddy Duds and his thugs move uptown in the year 1900, invade Central Park, and evict Oscar and his animal friends from their homes.
Bondoux, Anne-Laure. Vasco, Leader of the Tribe. Following his dreams of finding a safe haven in a new place, Vasco leads a motley group of rats out of the city, through a dangerous sea voyage, and finally to a forest where the rats, now a true tribe, can make a fresh start.
Cox, Judy. The Mystery of the Burmese Bandicoot. Two rats escape from their comfortable life in an elementary school classroom and survive many dangerous adventures as they stow away on a pirate ship in search of a valuable statue.
Deedy, Carmen Agra. The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale. A community of mice and a cheese-loving cat form an unlikely alliance at London’s Cheshire Cheese, an inn where Charles Dickens finds inspiration and Queen Victoria makes an unexpected appearance. (Level W)
DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Newbery section) The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin. (Level U)
Fiedler, Lisa. Mouseheart(series) Follows the experiences of an escaped pet shop mouse who descends into a utopian rat civilization before confronting threatening rebels, ravenous cats, and a generations-long battle involving deadly secrets.
Finney, Patricia. I, Jack. Jack, a Labrador Retriever, tells about his daily life of food, walks, and the “apedogs” and “funny-looking dogs” (cats) in his pack, as well as how everything changes when a pretty girl dog moves into the neighborhood. Includes explanatory footnotes written by the cats.
Gemeinhart, Dan. Good Dog. After his death, Brodie cannot forget the boy he left behind and breaks the rules by returning to Earth as a spirit with two other lost souls to ensure the safety of the boy he loves.
George, Jean Craighead. The Cats of Roxville Station. Thrown into a river by a cruel human, a young tiger-striped cat fights to survive amid feral cats and other creatures near Roxville train station, aided by Mike, an eleven-year-old foster boy who is not allowed to have a pet. (Level S)
Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. The escapades of four animal friends who live along a river in the English countryside; Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger. (Level S)
Hill, Chris. Lucky. Lucky is a young red squirrel who was rescued from a hawk, and now must somehow make his home among the Cloudfoot clan of the larger, gray squirrels who live in the city park – and trouble is brewing, for the rival gray squirrels known as the Northenders are planning an invasion.
Holt, Christopher. The Vanishing.Book One of The Last Dogs (series) When all humans in his world disappear, Max, a yellow Labrador Retriever, searches for Madame Curie who, he knows, will help find his people but as he and friends Rocky and Gizmo search, they face angry wolves, a gang of subway rats, and the Corporation,a supposed “perfect” society for dogs.
Jacques, Brian. Redwall (series) When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall’s inhabitants destroy the enemy. (Level Z)
Lasky, Kathryn. The Escape. Book One of Horses of the Dawn (series) Estrella is a filly, daughter of the lead mare, one of a shipment of horses bound for the new world, but when the ship is becalmed and the horses are dropped overboard to lighten the load, Estrella finds that it is up to her to lead the herd to land and safety.
Lee, Jenny. Elvis and the Underdogs. Benji Wendell Barnsworth is a small ten-year-old boy with a big personality. Born premature, Benji is sickly, accident-prone, and at the hospital so often he even has his own punch card. So when Benji wakes up one day from a particularly bad spell, his doctors take the radical step of suggesting he get a therapy dog. But when a massive crate arrives at Benji’s house, out walks a two-hundred-pound Newfoundland who can talk! And boy, is he bossy.
Lofting, Hugh. The Story of Doctor Dolittle. The adventures of a kind-hearted doctor, who is fond of animals and understands their language, as he travels to Africa with some of his favorite pets to cure the monkeys of a terrible sickness. (Level U)
Lowry, Lois. Stay! Keeper’s Story. Separated early in life from his mother and siblings, Keeper tells of his adventures with various human masters and his continual search for his little sister. (Level U)
Moranville, Sharelle Byars. The Hop. The intertwining stories of a girl traveling to the Rock and Roll Extravaganza and a toad whose home is in danger of being paved over.
O’Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Newbery section) 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. (Level V)
Oppel, Kenneth. Silverwing(series) 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. (Paperback section) (Level U)
Peck, Richard. The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail. A very small mouse of unknown origins runs away from school in the Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace shortly before the celebration of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, celebrating her sixty years on the British throne.
Pryce, Trevor. An Army of Frogs. For years, the frogs of the Amphibilands have lived in safety, protected by an elite group of poisonous frogs named the Kulipari and by the dreamcasting spell of the turtle king that cloaks their lands in mystery. Now the spell is threatened by the Spider Queen, a talented spellcaster, and Lord Marmoo, leader of the scorpions.
Salamon, Julie. Cat in the City. As he tries to make his own way in New York City, a handsome stray cat that becomes known as Pretty Boy finds a series of temporary homes while learning that relying on others, and being relied upon, is a wonderful thing.
Spirit (various authors). Wild Born. (series) As a dark force engulfs the land, the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers who each have forged a rare bond with their spirit beasts – a bond that gives great powers to all of them.
Torday, Piers. The Last Wild. In a world where animals no longer exist, Kester Jaynes feels like he hardly exists either. He’s been locked away in a home for troubled children and cannot speak. Then one night some talking pigeons come to help him escape– and the animals need him to save them too.
