Books like Every Dog in the Neighborhood
By Philip C. Stead
For the kid who wants a pet more than anything and will build a whole argument to get one, this is a case built one doorbell at a time. Gentle, wandering, and warm, with a dry wit tucked into its quiet neighborhood streets.
Two children in the segregated South spot a sign for a 'colored water' fountain and imagine something magical and rainbow-bright — only to discover a far harder truth about the world around them.
A gentle dog in a circus family of daredevils and acrobats tries to be strong, graceful, and brave like the others — but none of it feels like her, and she wonders if she belongs at all.
A friendly zookeeper who's always on time oversleeps and misses his bus, putting a surprise he planned for his animal friends in jeopardy — so they set out to help him.
A costumed superhero girl and her Bug Squad friends volunteer at a dog-adoption fair, doing small jobs like brushing and feeding dogs until Lulu dreams up a plan to help every one of them find a home.
A zookeeper spends every day visiting his animal friends — racing the tortoise, sitting with the shy penguin, reading to the owl — until he wakes up too sick to come, and they decide to visit him instead.
A young llama starts his first day of preschool, and once Mama leaves for work, the new teacher, new toys, and roomful of noisy kids feel like too much all at once.
A veterinarian heading off to serve in World War I rescues a baby bear at a train station, names her Winnie after his hometown, and brings her along to war — a true story that leads all the way to a boy named Christopher Robin.
The most beautiful fish in the ocean has shimmering silver scales but no friends, until he learns to share what makes him special.
An elephant king and queen welcome triplets to their family, and the smallest, Alexander, has a habit of wandering into trouble — getting stuck in treetops, even chased by a crocodile.
A small boy who lives next door to a nursing home learns that his elderly friend Miss Nancy has lost her memory, and sets out to discover what a memory actually is so he can help her find hers again.
A beloved dinosaur bakes cookies, helps old ladies cross the street, and plays with kids in town — while one boy, Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, insists she's scientifically extinct and shouldn't exist at all.
An overeager little dog named Katie can't contain herself when three kittens come home, howling and chasing after them because she loves them so much — but her excitement only scares them away.
