I liked Cockroaches and Rats and Bats growing up. I wanted a pet tarantula. I did not get a pet tarantula (for obvious reasons). A fantasy book about a quest in a world with talking critters, I couldn’t help but love it. Rereading it, it feels like every fantasy book for elementary school kids in a lot of ways, but the world still feels really vibrant to me. That’s something I gravitated toward as a kid and I ended up reading this book a bunch of times and wishing I too was kidnapped by an old rat.
Also, see Darkwing/Guardians of Ga’Hoole. I loved animals as a kid, especially pre-historic ones. Also stories where they were the protagonists going on an epic journey, I just ate that shit up. Darkwing especially, I think I read through that like six or seven times growing up. It’s a miracle I wasn’t a Warriors Cats kid.
