Books with animal narrators?
February 3, 2022 9:30 AM Subscribe
I'm really enjoying the Chet and Bernie book series, where Chet, who failed K9 Academy on his last day, narrates the adventures he has with his Private Investigator human: "Chasing down perps is what we do, me and Bernie. We’re partners in the Little Detective Agency, Little being Bernie’s last name. I’m Chet, pure and simple."
What other books have animal narrators?
What other books have animal narrators?
Here's a whole list!
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Mink River by Brian Doyle
Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy
The Bees by Laline Paull
The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein
Me Cheeta: The Autobiography by James Lever
Also Animal Farm which feels like a cheat to me.
To that I would add:
Timbuktu by Paul Auster
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
posted by babelfish at 9:50 AM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Mink River by Brian Doyle
Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy
The Bees by Laline Paull
The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein
Me Cheeta: The Autobiography by James Lever
Also Animal Farm which feels like a cheat to me.
To that I would add:
Timbuktu by Paul Auster
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
posted by babelfish at 9:50 AM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann was very enjoyable.
posted by lepus at 10:01 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by lepus at 10:01 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Last House House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. It's a beautifully written book but I also feel compelled to give a heads up that it's really dark. Really really dark.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 10:09 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 10:09 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I Am A Cat by Soseki Natsume is a classic of Japanese literature, a collection of anecdotes from the point of view of a cat.
posted by meemzi at 10:22 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by meemzi at 10:22 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Bunnicula series: a dog is uncertain whether the family's new pet rabbit is a vampire.
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 10:32 AM on February 3, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 10:32 AM on February 3, 2022 [10 favorites]
Almost, but not quite: Woof! by Allan Ahlberg
The Redwall series, something of a classic if you like things like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 11:11 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Redwall series, something of a classic if you like things like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 11:11 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Good Dog, Carl! is nearly wordless and one of my favorites.
posted by theora55 at 11:24 AM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 11:24 AM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Black Beauty may have been the first of these in English, and it still holds up.
posted by Mchelly at 11:26 AM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 11:26 AM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
King: A Street Story by John Berger
posted by methroach at 11:35 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by methroach at 11:35 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Joe Grey mystery series is narrated mostly by a cat. My mother loves this sort of book -- she's a fan of the Chet and Bernie books, also.
posted by Francolin at 12:10 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Francolin at 12:10 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I remember finding The Wild Ones very sweet - a country raccoon adjusting to the big city.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:29 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:29 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
There's Kipling's Thy Servant a Dog.
Cold Snap: a Viking Cat Mystery, by Codi Schneider.
Tolstoy has Kholstomer, which isn't quite narrated by the horse but is from that perspective.
Archy and Mehitabel.
Fire, Bed and Bone, by Henrietta Branford.
Going Home, by Cliff McNeish - I haven't read this but a friend's child enjoyed it.
posted by paduasoy at 12:51 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cold Snap: a Viking Cat Mystery, by Codi Schneider.
Tolstoy has Kholstomer, which isn't quite narrated by the horse but is from that perspective.
Archy and Mehitabel.
Fire, Bed and Bone, by Henrietta Branford.
Going Home, by Cliff McNeish - I haven't read this but a friend's child enjoyed it.
posted by paduasoy at 12:51 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Can heartily recommend Only the animals by Ceridwen Dovey.
Ten tales are told by the souls of animals killed in human conflicts in the past century or so, from a camel in colonial Australia to a cat in the trenches in World War I, from a bear starved to death during the siege of Sarajevo to a mussel that died in Pearl Harbour.
posted by BeesLikeMe at 1:18 PM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Ten tales are told by the souls of animals killed in human conflicts in the past century or so, from a camel in colonial Australia to a cat in the trenches in World War I, from a bear starved to death during the siege of Sarajevo to a mussel that died in Pearl Harbour.
posted by BeesLikeMe at 1:18 PM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
The One and Only Ivan. The Humphrey series.
posted by bookworm4125 at 1:50 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bookworm4125 at 1:50 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Robert Repino's Mort(e) is not in the first person, but the third person protagonist is a cat.
posted by gideonfrog at 2:26 PM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by gideonfrog at 2:26 PM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oh, also archy and mehitabel - free verse poetry by a cockroach in love with an alley cat (forgive the lower case; he can't work the shift key).
posted by Mchelly at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
The whole Bunnicula series, which I’ve been rereading with my kid! It’s still fun as an adult.
posted by centrifugal at 5:03 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by centrifugal at 5:03 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr by E.T.A. Hoffmann is one of my favorite animal narrated novels.
posted by perhapses at 7:39 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by perhapses at 7:39 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Told in the first person:
There's Thomasina (narrated by a cat, deceased), by Paul Gallico.
There's Felidae by Akif Pirinci, a murder story told by a cat, and its sequels (only some of which have been translated into English).
And some of the chapters in the Midnight Louie books by Carole Nelson Douglas are told by Midnight Louie (a cat) himself.
I also want to suggest two books that don't strictly fit the brief, in that they're both told in the third person and both star a creature who did not start life a creature, but which you might also enjoy:
Jennie (whose protagonist is a boy who has been turned into a cat), again by Paul Gallico,
and Dogsbody (told from the perspective of the Dog Star, turned into a dog and somewhat believing himself to be one), by Diana Wynne Jones.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:58 AM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
There's Thomasina (narrated by a cat, deceased), by Paul Gallico.
There's Felidae by Akif Pirinci, a murder story told by a cat, and its sequels (only some of which have been translated into English).
And some of the chapters in the Midnight Louie books by Carole Nelson Douglas are told by Midnight Louie (a cat) himself.
I also want to suggest two books that don't strictly fit the brief, in that they're both told in the third person and both star a creature who did not start life a creature, but which you might also enjoy:
Jennie (whose protagonist is a boy who has been turned into a cat), again by Paul Gallico,
and Dogsbody (told from the perspective of the Dog Star, turned into a dog and somewhat believing himself to be one), by Diana Wynne Jones.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:58 AM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hank the Cow Dog series was a family favorite to listen to during car trips.
posted by maxg94 at 1:30 PM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by maxg94 at 1:30 PM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Beautiful Joe, by Margaret Marshall Saunders. The dog story to the Black Beauty horse story.
posted by PussKillian at 2:07 PM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by PussKillian at 2:07 PM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by Melismata at 9:41 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]