The following books come recommended by the San Antonio Public Library for the KLRN Kids Club!
Texas Critters
Books about the Lone Star State’s amazing animals
from the San Antonio Public Library
Birth to Three
Mockingbird by Allen Ahlberg. Whether you read it or sing it, your little one will enjoy listening and looking at the gentle pictures in this retelling of the familiar song “Hush Little Baby.” Mother does offer to buy Baby a mockingbird (the state bird of Texas) but then the entire family gets in on the action!
Porcupines by JoAnn Early Macken (Weekly Reader Animals in the Forest series). Did you know that a baby porcupine can walk when it is only one hour old? Meet a baby porcupine and watch him grow up in beautiful photographs. You’ll love this prickly Texas critter!
Somewhere in Texas by Diana Fitzgibbon. Animal mothers all across Texas tend to their little ones in this rhyming counting book. An armadillo, a vulture, a jackrabbit, and more teach their babies how to be true Texans.
Four to Eight
Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett. Armadillo Rodeo is about as Texan as a book can get. Bo is a baby Armadillo that mistakes a new red boot for a new friend and follows it to the Curly H Rodeo, while his family franticly searches for him. Bo eats jalapenos, rides a horse, and two-steps at a barn dance before the day is through.
The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell. Three little javelinas (they’re like pigs, only hairier) make their way into the desert to seek their fortunes. Trouble soon finds them however; a hungry coyote decides that he wants to eat them with red chile sauce. This southwestern version of The Three Little Pigs is sure to be a spicy hit!
Little Lost Bat by Sandra Markle. Bracken Cave, near Austin, is the home of millions of Mexican free-tailed bats. Sandra Markle tells the story of one baby bat and his mother and the dangers they must face every day and what might happen when a baby bat’s mother doesn’t come home from her nighttime hunting trip.
Nine to Twelve
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Bet you didn’t know that Texas has a state dog! Yes sir! It’s the Blue Lacy, and it is thought to be the breed that inspired Gipson to write this story of adventure on the Texas frontier. Set in the Hill Country in the 1860s, this is the classic story of a boy and the dog he grows to love.
Wild Horses I Have Known by Hope Ryden. Mustangs used to roam all over Texas. In this photo essay by Ryden, beautiful full-color photographs accompany evocative text about these well-loved wild horses.
Bob Cat: North America’s Cat by Stephen R. Swinburne. Texas offers a great habitat for these shy wild cats. Swinburne takes the reader on two treks to track the elusive cat: one with professional naturalists and one with a group of sixth graders. Interesting photographs and lots of bobcat facts make this good book even better.
