Promote Compassion With Fauna-Friendly Books!

Books have the power to teach and promote positive character development in your students. That’s why December’s TeachKind Bulletin is devoted to reviewing 10 books that will help your students better appreciate, respect, and empathize with animals. Read these books to your students, make them available in your school library, or have your students read them as a class.

TeachKind’s Top 10 Fauna-Friendly Books
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One in a Million by Nicholas Read (Ages 8-12)
143 pages, paperback
When Joey and his littermates are dumped at the shelter, the young pups are frightened and confused. They’re not sure what’s happening to them or why they’ve been taken from their mother. Joey, like many animals, is adopted and then returned to the shelter because the people who took him home didn’t take the time to train him, make him part of the family, or understand his needs and what he was trying to tell them when he did the things that dogs commonly do, like barking and jumping. Told from Joey’s perspective, this touching story gives readers an insight into what life is really like for homeless animals—both at the shelter and on the streets—and the mistakes that people often make when they don’t consider what goes into being a responsible guardian. Find out what Joey learns from the animals he meets and if he’ll ever get a permanent home. This is a must-read for anyone who is thinking about adopting an animal.

50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals by Ingrid Newkirk
(Ages 8-13)
278 pages, paperback
Kids love animals, and teaching them compassion early on helps them become compassionate adults. This new edition of Kids Can Save the Animals is full of fascinating facts and more than 100 fun and easy projects and ideas that show children how they can get active for animals. Children are encouraged to make compassionate choices in an upbeat, kid-friendly style, and the book is filled with fun illustrations, jokes, and puzzles.

The Deliverance of Dancing Bears by Elizabeth Stanley (Ages 5-9)
40 pages, hardcover
The brown bear dreamed of a different life, one in which she wasn’t held against her will and forced to perform tricks for the townspeople to earn money for her owner, Haluk. She dreamed of her freedom and of being able to do all the things that come naturally to her, like rolling in the grass, raising cubs, and finding her own food. After years of living this miserable life, she is rescued by an old man named Yusuf. He pays for her release and gives her a more peaceful life. When the old man finds Haluk beating a bear cub to make the animal dance for the townspeople, he again pays for the bear’s release, but this time, the townspeople are outraged that Haluk would take the kind old man’s money, and he is spurned for what he has done to the old man and the bears.

Ace: The Very Important Pig by Dick King Smith (Ages 9-12)
144 pages, paperback
From the minute Ace was born, Farmer Tubbs knew that Ace was a very special pig … and he was right. Ace can understand what humans are saying! The farmer decides to keep Ace around instead of taking him to market with his brothers and sisters, but when Ace finds out what “going to market” really means, he’s determined not to end up as food. He quickly hatches a plan to win over Farmer Tubbs and to get in good with his laid-back cat, Clarence, and his stuck-up dog, Megan, too. Before you know it, Ace is everyone’s pal and the talk of the town, even landing a spot on TV!

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Ages 4-8)
62 pages, hardcover
In this Caldecott Medal-winning classic, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard search all over Boston for the ideal spot to nest. They land in Boston Public Garden and find a lovely little island that looks perfect until they notice all the people in the area, so they fly over the Charles River and find a nice cozy spot. They’re still close to their little island, so they swim over and visit Michael, the nice police officer who feeds them peanuts. Before long, they’ve got eight tiny ducklings, so Mrs. Mallard can’t go off and explore with Mr. Mallard like she used to. Then one day, she takes the ducklings on an adventure that leads them all over town and stops traffic. With the help of Michael and several other police officers, they eventually make their way back to their little island in the park where Mr. Mallard is waiting for them.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Ages 9-12)
182 pages, paperback
This is the heartwarming story of a lonely little girl named India Opal Buloni, who adopts a stray dog she finds in the Winn-Dixie supermarket. Opal and her father were abandoned by her mother seven years ago and have relocated to the Four Corner’s Trailer Park. Her father is always working on his sermons and church duties, so he doesn’t always have a lot of time for her, but when Winn-Dixie comes along, Opal’s lonely days are over. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets all sorts of interesting people in town, including Miss Franny Block, the librarian; Gloria Dump, an elderly woman believed by many kids to be a witch; and Otis, the guitar-playing ex-con who runs the local pet store and allows the animals to roam freely around the store while he sings to them. Opal’s new friends teach her about life and acceptance and help her and her father adjust to life without her mother.

Saving Lilly by Peg Kehret (Ages 9-12)
160 pages, paperback
Mrs. Dawson’s sixth-grade class at Harborview Elementary earned a special prize for reading 300 books in one month—a field trip to the circus. But Erin and David have just finished learning about the lives of animals in circuses for a project and refuse to go because the animals are treated so cruelly. Mrs. Dawson won’t allow them to tell their classmates what they’ve learned and even threatens their grades if they don’t get their permission slips signed because she doesn’t want them to ruin the happy field trip that she has planned. The kids are willing to try anything to stop the field trip, even having a sit-in because Mrs. Dawson won’t budge. To make matters worse, they find out that Lilly, an injured elephant, will be sold to a big-game park because the circus doesn’t want her anymore. Will the kids be able to stop the circus from selling Lilly and raise the money to send her to a sanctuary instead?

Ginger Finds a Home by Charlotte Voake (Ages 4-8)
40 pages, hardcover
A cold, hungry, lonely, dirty orange cat lived in a patch of weeds at the end of a garden. Every day, he searched for food in trash cans and drank from puddles before returning to his weed patch to sleep. Then one day, he returns to find a plate of food and a little girl standing nearby. Each day, the girl puts food out for him, and he begins to trust her more and more until finally, he allows her to pet him. She tells him that she will call him Ginger and that she can’t leave him outside, so she takes him home. Ginger has never been inside a house before. When he becomes frightened and runs out of the house, how will the little girl convince him that inside is the best place for him to be?

Who Will Speak for the Lamb? by Mildred Ames (age 13 and up)
216 pages, paperback
Julie’s father was offered a new job, doing research in a small college town, and Julie was happy to be the new kid in school. She had been a model for nine years, and she was ready to live like a normal teenager. But on the first day at her new school, a lamb is killed in an agricultural science class, and Julie finds herself taking part in a demonstration to protest the killing along with her new friend Laura and her brother Jeff. Her new friends, both members of the Animal Rights Society, are having quite an impact on her and are changing the way she looks at animals. Her family isn’t sure what to think of it all. Then details of her father’s research surface, and Julie must face facts about what is happening to the animals in her father’s lab.

Francine, Francine, the Beach Party Queen by Audrey Colman (Ages 3-7)
32 pages, hardcover
Francine’s family doesn’t appreciate her; in fact, they completely ignore her. So Francine does what any self-respecting dog would do—she runs away and searches for a family and a home where love comes first.

Yours for a Humane World,

The TeachKind Staff