22 Middle Grade Books for Tweens Who Love Animals

A friend of mine recently asked me for book suggestions for a reluctant tween reader who loves animals. Since many of you have or teach tweens, aka. children ages 8 – 12, who might also like animals, reluctant or not, you’ll want this list of middle grade book recommendations, too.

I have several posts with ideas to help reluctant readers. But one thing I want to emphasize, having taught reluctant readers and raised one, is that it’s your job to find ways to get them to love stories. The best way that I’ve found is to read aloud to them. Even when they’re older. Audiobooks work, too. 

Kids who struggle with reading for whatever reason may not yet have fallen in love with the magic of a good story. That’s the ultimate goal. Because that can help them persist with the challenges that might be facing them when it comes to reading.

This book list is listed in order of difficulty, starting with easier chapter books and continuing to more complex middle grade book titles for older tweens.

Give your child a choice of two or more books. As you know, choice is often the most motivating part of reading a new book.

Middle Grade Fiction Books for Animal-Loving Tweens

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
MAGICAL REALISM
Quirky and delightful, this is the tale of a girl named Flora who rescues a squirrel and keeps it as a friend. Together, they experience the world in a unique, funny, and wonderful way, and straighten it out, too — along with Flora’s mother.

Olga and the Smelly Thing From Nowhere by Elise Gravel
HUMOR
If you LOVE kooky chapter books, this book fits the bill. Olga finds a most unusual, unknown creature whom she names “MEH” after the sound it makes. She uses her deductive reasoning to figure out what it is (something new!) and what it likes to eat (olives)! But what will she do when Meh disappears? Things I love about this book: 1) the illustrations — they rock! 2) the narrator’s voice — it’s believable and funny 3) the plot — especially finding out that the mean girls aren’t so mean after all.

Mango and Bambang The Not-a-Pig by Clara Vulliamy
FRIENDSHIP
Mango rescues Bambang, an Asian tapir, from a busy street and the two become best friends. Together they find adventures, learn more about each other, and teach people that Bambang Is. Not. A. Pig. Four sweet stories of friendship and fun.

The Curious Cat Spy Club by Linda Joy Singleton
MYSTERY
What a fantastic new book series — my daughter and I devoured this first book. (She’s currently enjoying the 2nd.) Three kids from seemingly different social circles band together to rescue kittens they found in a dumpster — and solve the mystery of who would try to kill the kittens.

Gaby, Lost and Found by Angela Cervantes
REALISTIC — IMMIGRATION / ANIMAL RESCUE
I picked this book because of the cat pictured on the front cover — and found it to be more meaningful than I had expected. Gaby loves animals and hopes to one day adopt a cat. But that’s not possible since her mom was deported to Honduras. Now Gaby had to live with her neglectful father but she hopes that when her mom returns, everything will be better and she can adopt her favorite shelter cat.

One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko, illustrated by Eglantine Ceulemans
REALISTIC
I love these three unique, wonderful siblings — they stick together and look out for each other. Liam is a responsible, kind big brother in fifth grade. His mom and dad have recently divorced and now their grumpy landlord has given them an ultimatum — they’ll have to give away their German Shepard dog named Cupcake unless her peeing problem gets resolved. This is a beautiful, warm-hearted story that celebrates family, unique personalities and the richness in having a dog. If you like the Penderwicks or the VanderBeekers, you will love this book, too.

Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire, illustrated by David Litchfield
ANIMAL FICTION
With delicious figurative language and deliberate word choice, this is a stunningly beautiful story about family, community, and grief. After the death of her father, Cress and her family move from their cozy burrow into the Broken Arms oak tree ruled by a cranky Owl with a noisy neighbor squirrel family. There, Cress helps her mom collect moths to pay their rent, leaving her mom time to work and gather ingredients for her sickly brother’s tea. As Cress navigates her new environment, the natural world, and the stories around her, it helps her understand her inner world, especially how grief waxes and wanes like the moon’s cycles. Filled with immensely lovable characters, a gentle storyline of adventure and discovery, and lavish illustrations!

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
REALISTIC
I LOVE THIS BOOK and so will you. Narrated by a gorilla named Ivan, this true story will immediately grab at your heartstrings. Ivan is kept in a cage in a run-down mall for 27 years without seeing another gorilla. (!!!) When his maltreated elephant friend dies, she asks Ivan to help the new, younger elephant find a better life outside of the cages. With the help of the janitor’s daughter, he does just that.

The Wildes: The Amazon by Roland Smith
ADVENTURE
240 pages
Set in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, two siblings are with their conservationist scientist mom, who is reintroducing Golden lion tamarins (GLTs) into the wild. But, when their mom doesn’t return to base camp, the kids discover that she’s been kidnapped. The siblings, their bumbling tutor, and an indigenous (Kayapo) man follow the kidnappers’ trail to the mining area…and start investigating the mining camp under the pretense of tourists whose dad is sick. Great writing, excellent plotting, and a fascinating story, plus lots of information about the Amazon and endangered animals make this a standout middle grade book recommendation for 2023!

Scurry by Mac Smith
ANIMAL ADVENTURE / GRAPHIC NOVEL
I love the art in this graphic novel about a post-apocalyptic time with no humans and only animals. The house mice are scrounging to survive from what the humans left, but there isn’t enough food for their community. When our hero Wix leaves to scout more food, he discovers the rat’s betrayal, dangerous predators, including hawks and crows, and a strange beaver kingdom. It’s an epic animal adventure of danger, bravery, and exploration!

The Last Dogs: The Vanishing by Christopher Holt
DYSTOPIAN
Holt is an amazing writer and the story is a fast-paced, unique dystopian adventure that your kids will thoroughly enjoy. All the humans are gone. Max, a yellow Lab, knows that he must find and save his human family. From the moment he escapes the kennel at the vet’s, Max and his friends, Rocky and Gizmo, face huge obstacles in his quest to find his humans — starving wolves, no food, a gang of subway rats, a house of cats, and the controlling Corporation, a “perfect” society for dogs where everyone works and no one can leave. Exciting — I loved the entire series.

Haven: A Small Cat’s Big Adventure by Megan Wagner Lloyd
After an insecure start to her life, Haven lives in a safe home with the loving Ma Millie. But when Ma Millie gets sick, Haven bravely leaves the safety of her home to get help. On her journey, Haven befriends a fox who helps her through the woods to the farm and then the town. They don’t realize it, but all the while, they are stalked by a predator who attacks the fox just as they’re almost home. Adventure, danger, friendship, and new beginnings, this is a sweet story that any animal lover will enjoy.

Always Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak
I highly recommended this book as a family read-aloud choice — it’s a heartfelt story of friendship, adventure, and care for animals that will appeal to many ages and interests. Our narrator, Clementine, is a genius lab rat who is freed by a lab tech and hidden in the mailbox of a former chess champion. Clementine narrates everything that happens in letters to her friend Rosie, a chimpanzee who is still trapped in the lab. She’s found by the chess champion’s grandson, and he and his grandfather vow to keep her safe which is tricky because the lab is hunting her down. Clementine’s voice is compelling and believable. I loved this book so much and didn’t want it to end!

Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher
HISTORICAL FICTION
Arthur Welsh is a poor, homeless Norwegian boy who works for passage on a ship to England as the caretaker of a captive polar bear, a gift for the King Henry of England. The conditions for the polar bear are worse than the boy’s, both being victims of their circumstances, powerless and captive. It’s a physical and emotional journey of survival and friendship. The two survive a pirate attack, escape in the wild, and a new life in England. I hated the captivity of the bear but I loved this based on a true story and the bond of friendship between animal and man.

Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
REALISTIC – DEAF, LONELINESS
Iris is a lonely Deaf girl who feels alone at her school and in her immediate family. When Iris learns about Blue 55, a whale who is called the loneliest whale in the world because his song is at a different hertz than other whales, she immediately feels a connection to him. Iris uses her compassionate heart, intelligence, and tinkering skills to write and record a whale song that Blue 55 will hear so he’ll know that he’s not alone. Her subsequent adventure is profoundly life-changing. This is a heartening, poignant story that gives readers insight Deaf children, the richness of Deaf culture, and the power of compassion.

Dog Driven by Terry Lynn Johnson
REALISTIC
A story about finding your strength even if it looks like a weakness…McKenna enters a long dog sled race in order to bring awareness to her sister’s degenerative eye disease. (Which McKenna is positive that she has, too because her eyesight is worse every day. Only she just doesn’t want to tell her parents and be treated differently.) During the race, she relies on her lead dog to guide the sled. Another racer, a boy with a blind dog, shows her that his blind dog is a powerful leader. The challenges of the race and her new friendship help McKenna realize that just like Zesty the blind dog, she is not disabled and that her differences make her better.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
SCI-FI/ ADVENTURE (series)
This is a must-read, excellent Newbery winning book about incredible, super-smart lab rats and mice who have escaped from a laboratory and form their own thriving community. Until Mrs. Frisby’s home is set for destruction. That’s when she turns to the rats for help and learns the truth about her husband. This was always one of my fifth graders favorite read-alouds, it’s amazing.

Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef
FANTASY
One of the best books of 2023, the layered storytelling, plot twists, and surprises made it impossible to put down. After Marjan’s father dies, she’s alone and the owner of her dad’s veterinary practice, even though she’s only a sophomore in high school. When she’s asked to help a sick gryffin, she’s shocked to discover her father’s secret job as a mythical creature vet. She tries to unravel the lies and secrets in her father’s life, including if he was murdered, but the world of magical creatures is confusing and filled with trickery. Woven within the narrative story are her father’s Iranian folktales about mythical creatures, starting with “Once was, once wasn’t.” I loved the surprising ending, too.

Whale of the Wild by Rosanne Parry, illustrated by Lindsay Moore
ENVIRONMENT / OCEAN / ANIMALS
I absolutely love this beautifully written story about two orca siblings separated from their families, trying to find food and their seasonal home. After her mother loses a calf, Vega leaves her pod to bury her little sister, her brother chasing after her. Then, a Tsunami hits, and they both are lost from their pod. Vega, a stranger, and her little brother travel together towards recognizable landscapes and hopefully, food. As they journey, they meet other orca pods with different customs and who eat different foods, as well as other sea creatures. The story, an adventure with danger and suspense, shows the importance of keeping nature in balance.

Hero Rescue Mission by Jennifer Li Shotz
ADVENTURE
In this Hero story, Ben’s dad is captured by escaped convicts. Ben and the police dog, Hero, set off to find his dad. Unfortunately, Ben’s injured and Hero’s too emotional to track the scent so they’re going to need help if they’re going to find his dad. Action from the first page to the last! Kids who love adventure and animals will love this book and entire series.

Elephant Secret by Eric Walters
REALISTIC / ANIMALS
You’ll zip through this lovely story about a girl named Sam who lives on an elephant sanctuary with her father. A mysterious benefactor has paid for an elephant to become pregnant — but it’s not actually an elephant that she births, it’s a wooly mammoth cloned from DNA. Sam’s connection with the elephants is amazing, especially the baby mammoth whom she names Woolly. Things go very wrong when their benefactor forces her father and her to leave the sanctuary. As she deals with this, Sam must also come to terms with her father’s long-term girlfriend. It’s a great story that will keep animal lovers enthralled with new knowledge about elephants and their behavior.

You Might Also Like:

Funny Chapter Books That Kids Love

Wonderful Children’s Books About Animals

Fiction Books About Dogs

Animal Rescue Stories for Children

Choose Your Own Adventure Books

Adventure Books for Kids