the depiction of animals in literature

[cacian]

cats historically were revered by the pharaohs and
mystical is a word that spring to mind.

how important are animals when it comes to writing a book?
and
do you have a favourite book with animal/s depiction in it?

[PeterL]

It depends on the book. There are books without any non-human animals, and there are other books in which animals have significant parts. There is a novel based on the discovery of the Tasaday tribe in which a tribesman is likened to a savage guard dog. Actually the tribesman is kept in a pen in the backyard, where the dogs are also kept in a pen; it was a form of parallelism.

[YesNo]

Animals are a lot smarter than we imagine. They could make good characters in a book. I like dragons.

[Danik 2016]

Animal are often depicted for there own, but they also have, as cacian pointed out, a great symbolic value. For example, a happy middle class family in books or adds is often depicted with a pet.
I like genuine animal stories, but I don't like those where the animals are shown as humans in animal form.

Some famous Aesops fables:
http://shortstoriesshort.com/story/category/aesops-fables/

[Red Terror]

I heard The Wind In the Willows is beautifully written.

[Pompey Bum]

When I was in 7th grade our English class had books assigned for the girls and books assigned for the boys. A typical girls' book was Ann Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. The boys got The Call of the Wild. In those days (and at that school) bullying was encouraged among boys because establishing a pecking order was considered important in life, and because the male teachers were too cowardly to do anything about it.

Anyway, Buck. Buck was a dog who came from a judge's house, but he was kidnapped and harnessed to a sled during the Alaskan gold rush. Buck made a friend--another dog. I don't remember his name, but don't worry, he doesn't last long. One day the dogs attacked Buck's friend, who quickly went down. They tore him limb from limb. Buck understood: this is what happens when you go down. And on that day Buck resolved that he would never go down.

Junior High School lasted three years.

[Ecurb]

I think there's a chapter in "Call of the Wild" entitled "The Law of Club and Fang" (or something like that), which might apply to many Middle School experiences. Novels about realistic animals used to be popular -- but have fallen out of favor, I think. "The Black Stallion", "White Fang", "Black Beauty" and dozens of others were standard children's fare.

Novels about talking animals also have a long history: The Jungle Books, The Narnias, Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, The Rescuers, The Golden Compass, The Sword in the Stone etc (does Winnie the Pooh count?). A different approach would be "Animal Farm".

We haven't mentioned non-fiction books about real animals -- but there are dozens with literary merit. I like Vicki Hearne's books (Bandit, Animal Happiness). The description of the war horse and other animals in the Book of Job is also great. From memory, "He smelleth the battle from afar and cryeth 'ha ha'."

[Pompey Bum]

I think there's a chapter in "Call of the Wild" entitled "The Law of Club and Fang" (or something like that), which might apply to many Middle School experiences. Novels about realistic animals used to be popular -- but have fallen out of favor, I think. "The Black Stallion", "White Fang", "Black Beauty" and dozens of others were standard children's fare.

They made us read The Red Pony, too. We called it the Dead Pony. It was about a pony that, you know, died.

[Jackson Richardson]

I heard The Wind In the Willows is beautifully written.

One of my favourite books. But it is not about animals at all.

[Ecurb]

They made us read The Red Pony, too. We called it the Dead Pony. It was about a pony that, you know, died.

As I remember I shirked reading "The Red Pony" in Lit. class. I thought actually reading the books constituted cheating. A really clever student should be able to get B- on the pop quizzes without ever opening the book. (I think "C" was more usual for me.)

[Clopin]

Watership Down is my favourite, and it's somewhat realistic with regard to the animals... of course they can speak and form complicated societies, but they can't count past five. There's a good scene where, when attempting to ford a river, the smartest rabbit hatches a scheme whereby they could all float on something else... that floats, so a piece of wood, and none of the other rabbits can even begin to understand what he's talking about with the whole floatation thing.

[Pompey Bum]

As I remember I shirked reading "The Red Pony" in Lit. class. I thought actually reading the books constituted cheating. A really clever student should be able to get B- on the pop quizzes without ever opening the book. (I think "C" was more usual for me.)

Well, the poor thing passed on. In case anyone ever asks you.

[desiresjab]

Good topic. The first books I ever loved were those of Walter R. Brooks' Freddy The Pig series. All animals on the farm of the kindly but private Mr. and Mrs. Bean could speak, including the spiders. The ring leaders in all their adventures were Freddy the pig and his closest associate Jinx the cat. At least one of the books was written during WWII and is full of animal patriotism and anti-Japanese sentiment. The animals may have rooted out some spies in that one. They played a baseball team from Mars in one adventure. Brooks also created the character of Mr. Ed in another story.

[Pompey Bum]

Watership Down is my favourite, and it's somewhat realistic with regard to the animals... of course they can speak and form complicated societies, but they can't count past five. There's a good scene where, when attempting to ford a river, the smartest rabbit hatches a scheme whereby they could all float on something else... that floats, so a piece of wood, and none of the other rabbits can even begin to understand what he's talking about with the whole floatation thing.

I liked Watership Down as well (and cried at the end--something Ennison used to snigger at me for). The other day I was trying to remember the rabbit-language epigram about how their enemies--"the Stinking Thousand"--come for them even when they try to poo. But I couldn't find my old paperback (really old-- I read it in Africa). Anyone remember how it went?

[Ecurb]

We've overlooked "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little".

[cacian]

Watership Down is my favourite, and it's somewhat realistic with regard to the animals... of course they can speak and form complicated societies, but they can't count past five. There's a good scene where, when attempting to ford a river, the smartest rabbit hatches a scheme whereby they could all float on something else... that floats, so a piece of wood, and none of the other rabbits can even begin to understand what he's talking about with the whole floatation thing.

count past five??
is that supposed to be a joke?

[cacian]

Good topic. The first books I ever loved were those of Walter R. Brooks' Freddy The Pig series. All animals on the farm of the kindly but private Mr. and Mrs. Bean could speak, including the spiders. The ring leaders in all their adventures were Freddy the pig and his closest associate Jinx the cat. At least one of the books was written during WWII and is full of animal patriotism and anti-Japanese sentiment. The animals may have rooted out some spies in that one. They played a baseball team from Mars in one adventure. Brooks also created the character of Mr. Ed in another story.

what is the anti-japanese sentiment?

[ennison]

Oh Pompey I am sorry (genwine - huck style) It's just that having shot, eviscerated and eaten so many rabbits I cannot feel the pain of the collective warren. I appreciate that you may like the book and I am touched that you may still remember any passing lack of empathy of mine. Yer a good chap.