Kid Tested, Librarian Approved: Christmas animals

Christmas will be here before you know it! Time to read everything Christmas all the time everywhere! I love Christmas stories with animal characters, so most of the books include fur babies who are brave and adventurous. They will be fun to read with your friends.😊

When we were kids my sister, cousins and I would act out every Christmas book we read in the chicken coop at cousin Marleen’s farm. The chickens didn’t seem to mind although occasionally we had to hold a chicken to keep it from flapping around during a scene of importance or from pecking at our hay wigs. The only big problem we ever had was a time when one of grandpa’s cows chewed the leg off baby Jesus in the manger. We replaced it with a corn cob. Otherwise, we were good to go and had a lovely time.

The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa by Bill Walace

Don Franklin is excited! Maybe. Well, as excited as any worried 11-year-old boy can be. Christmas is almost here but something is wrong in his mining town. Will they be able to celebrate Christmas? Don’s little sister Susan thinks so. She absolutely knows Santa will bring exactly what she wants. Nope, she isn’t telling anybody what it is, no how, no way, nope.

Frank, Don’s dog, is a good ol’ bloodhound who tries to keep his hoomans happy, out of trouble and fix their worries. What a good, good dog. Frank can fix anything!

This book is told by the boy and the dog. It is GREAT! I love the bloodhound, Frank! He is so wise and funny, “People spend so much of their days worrying, they don’t hardly have time to bury a bone or scratch a flee.” I can’t tell you much more or I’ll give away all the surprises, fun, adventure and awww.

The Pug Who Wanted to be a Reindeer by Bella Swift

How much trouble can a cute little pug with a cinnamon roll tail get into anyway? Well, quite a bit if you are the adorable Peggy the pug. Peggy’s human family members have been having a run of bad days. Their Christmas spirit flew the coop. Peggy decided she knows precisely what to do – turn herself into a reindeer! LOL! Ha ha ha! Or Ho, Ho, Ho! Peggy tries giving herself antlers by eating carrots. A lot of carrots. She makes more messes and more stress at home. She thinks the only way to solve the situation is to go to the North Pole and see Santa! Yahoo dear, brave, little Peggy. Read about all her adventures. Peggy to the rescue!

Christmas at Stony Creek by Stephanie Greene

Here is the story of a brave little mouse named Pipsqueak, Pip for short. I shall name my next pet mouse after her. I was very impressed. Pip’s papa has been gone for 8 long days searching for food. It was supposed to be 3 days and it’s almost Christmas. Pip is going to a place her mama has forbidden, of course. It’s the house perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking the wood – Land’s End. There is tons of food there, but it is dangerous. Owls who could swoop down on her and cats and traps in the house. Pip goes for her Mama and bothers and sisters, for her Papa and for Christmas. Seriously brave little Pip.

The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff

This is not a fur baby Christmas book, but it is one of my favorites. Lucy Wolcott 10 years old and her little sister Glory 6 years old are orphans living at a public workhouse at Grimstone Union. There is nothing good about a place called Grimstone and it is as bad as it sounds. They work from sunup to sundown sewing blankets and sacks. Poor girls. They manage to escape just as a nasty deadly fever spreads through Grimstone.

The little girls roam the streets of London learning how to survive. They search through mucky river mud to find things to sell and come upon an old doll, dirty and worn. Glory loved her right away and named her Morning Glory. This little doll leads them on various adventures that turned their lives around. This is a true Christmas spirit story.

A Christmas Treasury, Twelve Unforgettable Holiday Stories 

I love short stories or snippets of a bigger book. This one has both with Christmas portions of larger stories such as the Christmas scene from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It also has The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, which is excellent for all you young theater people. You’ll find that theater can turn a hard heart of a bully or two. There are, of course, fur baby stories. The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory is a story with many turns about a rescue cat. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George is full of adventure.