Between the covers: Animal classics to make you laugh and cry

SOME of the most moving novels I have read have been stories about animals.

Here are a few of the many animal books that have made me laugh, made me cry and have stayed in my heart long after I have turned the last page:

* ‘The Snow Goose’ by Paul Gallico is about a rescued goose, friendship, love and war. Have a box of tissues handy when you reach the end.

* ‘Old Yeller’ by Fred Gibson is about a boy and a stray yellow dog. You’ll need an even bigger box of tissues for this ending.

* ‘Scruffy’ by Paul Gallico, is a love story and a fabulously funny tale about a badly behaved Barbary in Gibraltar.

* ‘Jenny’ by Paul Gallico, is a bitter-sweet story about a charming feline heroine.

* ‘Thomasina’, another catty gem from Paul Gallico, is also a bit of a tear jerker.

* ‘Black Beauty’, written by Anna Sewell in 1877 about a horse, is a children’s classic that everyone needs to read.

* ‘Callanish’ by William Horwood is about a golden eagle that was captured and brought to the London Zoo.

* ‘The Stonor Eagles’ by William Horwood is a magical novel about an artist and Cuillin, one of the great sea eagles of Skye.

* ‘White Fang’ by Jack London, set in the Arctic is the story of a wild wolf dog.

* ‘Lassie Come Home’ by Eric Knight tells the saga of a collie dog’s long journey to find her boy owner.

* ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling is a children’s classic and a collection of unforgettable stories. It is filled with wonderful animal characters and, of course, a man-cub called Mowgli.

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