100 Books Like The Elephants Come Home

I adore this book because it is so unique—I’ve never read anything quite this specific or niche which seems so all-encompassing.

It is the story of a life lost, and a life found. Of a father that dies and how the recovery of his daughter is tied up with the start of a new relationship—with a goshawk.

At the outset, the author is so wonderfully eloquent on all aspects of loss; the sudden jarring sense of confusion when a person dies and you have their possessions still in your hands; the struggle to keep in touch with reality (“for weeks I felt like I was made of dully burning metal”); the desperation to see the back of grief when new relationships are desperately grasped at, and fail of course, because of that desperation. 

The goshawk saves her (and us) from the darkness, as she becomes gripped with the… show more.

If you ask a marine biologist for a book recommendation, more likely than not, they will hand you this book about octopuses. But far from a simple book about charismatic underwater aliens, this book delves into a beautiful, philosophic inquiry of the natural world and the role of humans within it. 

Using journalism-based storytelling with hands-on experiences, this book emphasizes the profound intelligence, emotional depth, and individual personalities of octopuses. Although the book doesn’t directly address the intersection of faith and science, its key message carries important implications for those who desire to connect spirituality with nature.

This cathartic read will stimulate your fascination with marine life while interweaving philosophical reflections toward the ultimate goal of realizing our connection to these incredible creatures. 

Okay, I confess this is the same story as the recommendation above, The Elephants Come Home, but this is written by the actual guy, Lawrence Anthony, who undertook this effort.

Also, instead of a picture book, it is a 380-page tale told by the person who lived it. If you love The Elephants Come Home, you’ll want to read Elephant Whisperer as well.

I found myself exclaiming again and again over the stories that Anthony tells of life on the sanctuary.

As I stated earlier, I simply love nonfiction children’s picture books, and this one is no exception. Dive into the life of one of the most beloved and indispensable creatures on earth—the hardworking honeybee. From birth to death to new life, Fleming takes us on a poetic journey through every important moment in the life of this incredible creature.

Rohmann's meticulous oil paintings bring us so close to the action that we feel like we're one of the actors in this epic tale. This is exactly the sort of book I would have been obsessed with as a child, and I truly believe if every human read this, they’d have a whole new outlook on these stunning creatures. 

This is a charming book that I treasured when I was a young reader.

The narrator/author is telling a true story from his childhood about adopting a wild raccoon he named Rascal. It harkens back to a simpler time [also a little warning, he and a friend take the baby raccoons from their nest, which is not cool these days!].

The reader gets to see how smart and mischievous Rascal is and all the adventures the two have together.

This picture book memoir based on her New York Times best-selling adult memoir, How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals, introduces young readers to some of the incredible animals that have influenced the author throughout her lifetime and challenges us all to look at our relationships with animals differently.

What lessons have animals taught us—whether it’s our domesticated pets at home or animals you’ve seen in nature? How can animals make us better versions of ourselves? This beautifully told story by one of the greatest nature writers of our time shows us simply just how much animals have to teach us if we only pay close attention.

I wish I could singlehandedly scrub away the fear humans have of spiders. Alas, that is not possible, but you’ll think twice about killing a spider after reading this book. This stunningly illustrated picture book invites readers into the fascinating world of (arguably) one of the cutest arachnids around, the jumping spider.

“What if you were very small?... What would your world be like?” Immediately, you are transported into the mind of a jumping spider, how they navigate their world, and what makes them so important to their ecosystem. This book is a must-read for anyone curious to learn more about these incredible little creatures and the smaller world right in our own backyard. 

This quiet yet thought-provoking picture book invites readers to explore the world all around them as a young child embarks on a kayaking trip with their mother and father in Monterey Bay, California. From seabirds soaring above them, to sea lions barking from nearby rocks to leopard sharks prowling the sea floor, this book is a comforting read-aloud kids will want to return to again and again.

The mixed-media illustrations have an enchanting simplicity that captures the ocean environment and its wonder. The illustrated backmatter reflects on each unique creature and what makes them important to their ecosystem. I highly recommend all the books in the Over and Under series by Messner and Neal, but if you love the ocean, you won’t want to miss this one!

This is an amazing book about a lonely horse who found a home and became a hero. It shows how God can use animals to heal us from the inside out.

Hopewell Ranch is a beautiful animal therapy farm in Michigan that was founded to help hurting children. This amazing ministry has also assisted in helping veterans, families, and individuals in their quest for healing. This ranch partners with several animals in a beautiful natural setting where people can connect to health in a peaceful and non-threatening atmosphere.

This book references an incredible Horse that encouraged many people who were going through struggles in their lives. Compassion, kindness, and God's grace were prevalent in this book. It is a true story and a must-read.

I loved the brash daring of this novel by an unknown writer of my own generation that I first read in the manuscript. I don’t believe it has yet gotten its due. Sarah Falkner has taken the near-familiar twentieth-century mise en scène of the Alfred Hitchcock-ish animal thriller movie and created characters in starlet Kitty Dawson and her son Rory who create their own inventions with this space.

Kitty founds a big cat sanctuary, and Rory trains as a lion tamer and turns this into performance art. Throughout, I felt like I was in a live-action museum of Post-War American Psycho-Cinema, powered by Falkner’s mimicry of discourses–interviews, publicity releases, film theory, and memoir–and the blend of excitement for film, language, and compassion for animals and their magnificence.