Creature Tales

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life (305 pages, RL 3.6).

The Mayor of Central Park by Avi.
Oscar Westerwit, a squirrel who loves baseball and Broadway musicals, fights back when gangster rat Big Daddy Duds and his thugs move uptown in 1900, invade Central Park, and evict Oscar and his animal friends from their homes (193 pages, RL 5.6).

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie (182 pages, RL 3.9).

Babymouse graphic novel series by Jennifer L. Holm.

In Babymouse 1: Queen of the World, an imaginative mouse dreams of being queen of the world but will settle for an invitation to the most popular girl's slumber party (91 pages, RL 2.2).

Martin's Mice by Dick King-Smith. 

A farm cat who doesn't want to catch mice keeps a family of them as pets in the barn... but then he is given away to a townswoman and acquires a new perspective (122 pages, RL 4.5). 

Elvis and the Underdogs by Jenny Lee.

All his life, ten-year-old Benji has been sickly, and he has long been targeted by the school bully, but after a seizure Benji gets a therapy dog that is not only big enough to protect him, it can also talk (300 pages, RL 4.7).

A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin.

A stray puppy named Squirrel relates her life story, beginning with her nurturing mother, providing details of her experiences with both nice and mean humans, busy highways, and the seasons-- and ending with her meeting two friends (182 pages, RL 4.9).

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs (137 pages, RL 4.4).

The Golden Hamster Saga series by Dietlof Reiche.

The series revolves around a golden hamster named Freddy Auratus, two silly guinea pigs, a civilized tomcat, and Freddy's owner, who translates German to English (RL 5.0).

Einstein the Class Hamster by Janet Tashjian.

Einstein, a very knowledgeable hamster, is desperate to help students in his classroom win an audition for a televised trivia game show but, unfortunately, only one student, Ned, can hear him (148 pages, RL 3.6). 

Smart Dog by Vivian Vande Velde.

Fifth grader Amy finds her life growing complicated when she meets and tries to hide an intelligent talking dog who has escaped from a university lab (146 pages, RL 5.8).

Lulu Walks the Dogs by Judith Viorst.

Lulu needs help from a boy named Fleischman if she is to earn money walking her neighbors' dogs.  She finds out that if she wants her business venture to succeed, she has to be nice (144 pages, RL 5.1).

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

In this classic animal tale, Wilbur the pig is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him (184 pages, RL 4.4).