My novel, Greta and Boris: A Daring Rescue features a whole cast of clever felines, warring mice, wicked rat kings and chatty migrating birds. I always loved reading stories that featured animals and the natural world as a child. Here are some of my favourite animal characters…

Black Beauty

No list of animals in books would be complete without a mention of that brave horse, Black Beauty. His trials and tribulations as he moves from life as a carefree colt, to a terrible existence pulling cabs in London, to his final, happy retirement as a free horse in the country, have kept readers and animal lovers spellbound for over a century. Black Beauty is just as compelling a narrator today as he was in 1877, when his tale first made its way to our bookshelves. The book highlights to us the awful treatment of horses in Victorian England, and advocates for more kindness and less cruelty.

Melchisidec, in A Little Princess

When Sara Crewe, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s brave heroine who goes from riches to rags and back again, finds she shares her attic room with a rat, she refuses to be scared. Instead, she befriends the rat, who she names Melchisidec, and he returns her friendship.

Wrolf, The Little White Horse

It’s hard to choose between all the incredible animals that help Maria Merryweather as she goes on her adventures to save her home, Moonacre. There’s Periwinkle the pony, Serena the hare, Zacahriah the cat and, of course, Wrolf the dog. It is Wrolf’s loyalty to Maria that deserves special mention. When Maria realises what she must to to complete her mission and save Moonacre, it is Wrolf that accompanies her to keep her safe. He is the first of the Moonacre animals that she meets, and one whose kindness and patience shines on every page. But is Wrolf really what he seems? You’ll need to read the book to find out…

Plop, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark

It’s hard to be an owl when you’re afraid of the dark, as poor Plop knows to his cost. But one night, Plop discovers that the dark is nothing to be afraid of – with the help of many fun and interesting characters on the way. He learns that the dark is exciting, kind, fun, necessary, wonderful and beautiful. This book is particularly memorable for its exploration of the constellations – especially Orion’s Belt.

The whales in Why the Whales Came

OK, so they’re not exactly ‘a character’. But it’s one of my favourite books and they’re a crucial part of it, so I’m allowed to cheat a little bit! Grace and Daniel live on Bryher, one of the Scilly Isles, and have always been told not to talk to the Birdman. But when they run into him, an unlikely friendship forms between the three. The Birdman tells the children how the neighbouring island, Samson, was cursed after a school of whales were washed assured and killed by the islanders. So when a school of narwhals washes up on Bryher, Grace and Daniel are afraid the curse will come to their home too. Can they save the whales, and Bryher? What I love about this novel is how it explores the friendship between Grace, Daniel and the Birdman, how it rails against prejudice and how it promotes the need for communities to come together and support one another. And the ending is a real tear-jerker too.

Sian Norris

http://www.sianandcrookedrib.blogspot.ie/

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