Books like Black Dog
By Levi Pinfold
For the kid who's always insisting they're not scared, even when everyone else in the room is — this book hands them the hero role. Hushed and shadowy at first, then playful and warm — a slow exhale of a book.
A mother cat leads her two kittens, Fluffy and Skinny, through washing, wall-walking, and claw-sharpening — while a third kitten, Boris, just naps through it all.
A lonely old man sets out to find one pretty cat but can't choose among the millions, billions, and trillions he finds on a hillside — so he brings them all home.
A girl in a red cloak walks alone through the woods to visit her ailing grandmother, unaware that a wicked wolf is following close behind with plans of his own.
A poor woodcutter's two children, abandoned in the forest, discover a house made of bread, cakes, and candy — and the wicked witch who lives there has a taste for children.
A boy afraid to go to school rides his grandfather's 1952 Ford time machine back through Big Papa's own frightening moments, hearing the same lesson each time: that's called being brave.
A lonely woman welcomes a traveling salesman's pets into her home one by one, but draws the line firmly at one thing: no elephants, thank you very much.
After an owl attack knocks a baby fruit bat from her mother's grasp, she lands in a bird's nest and is raised alongside three baby birds, learning to live by their rules — until she finds her way back to her own kind.
When every girl at the Paris boarding school falls sick on Christmas Eve, the smallest and bravest one stays well enough to take charge — and finds unexpected help from a magical rug-selling merchant.
A mischievous rabbit sneaks into Mr. McGregor's vegetable garden against his mother's warning, and once he's spotted, must find his way home safely while being chased.
A janitor and his loyal dog, cramped and weary of their crowded one-room life, accept a mysterious bird's offer of paradise on a floating island — only to discover the price of that easy life.
After a hunter kills his mother, a young elephant flees to the city, where a kindly old woman takes him in — then he returns to the great forest with his cousins Celeste and Arthur to become King of the Elephants.
A small boy is invited to tea at the palace and always asks the same question — may he bring a friend? — and each time, a surprising animal guest shows up beautifully behaved.
