Before baby Emily was born (she’s now 15 months old), we were shopping at a secondhand store when I laid eyes on a multi-colored stuffed llama, which I have since come to learn is a character from the video game Fortnite, although I was blissfully ignorant of that fact at the time.
I snapped it up, thinking it would be perfect for my as-yet unborn granddaughter, because her Mama, my youngest daughter Katie, had been a huge fan of stuffed llamas as a child and had a whole corral of them in her room. Remember The Emperor’s New Groove? That movie came out around then, I think, and young Katie was hooked. Her first stuffed llama was a little guy she named Brownie…yes, in the tradition of Whitey, Blackie, and Greenie.
But back to Emily…the Fortnite llama has become one of her favorite toys. I made up a little rhyme to go with it as we play and walk her llama around. “Llama, llama, love my Mama,” we chorus together.
As I was playing with Emily, I started thinking about the two books I’m currently writing, both of which are full of llamas, among other ranch animals. Having just come off a six-book service dog series, I decided to expand into a small and large animal veterinary clinic for my fictional Colorado mountain town Whispering Pines.
That means llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, chickens and more as well as dogs and cats. Sometimes these feisty animals become characters of their own, such as a stubborn goat named Buster who gets himself caught in a fence. I love animals and ranch settings, so it’s a joy to write them into my books.
As readers, do you like to see a variety of animals in the books you read? Do you have any favorite books that feature farm/ranch animals?
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~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
I love to see other animals in books Jillian Hart had a pet cow forget the name but it was so sweet and naughty at times. It was in The Granger Series.
there have been other animals that I have loved too. Animals always add to a story.
I love to read books that have animals in them. I especially like when there are rescued animals in the story. I don’t remember the name of the book but the character rescued horses as part of the book.
Hi Deb! As an OMA (grandma) stuffies (stuffed animals) are fun. Granddaughter #1 age 9 loves dolphins. Finny the dolphin rides with us to school. At home she has Flippy and Violet. Granddaughter #2 age 6 loves unicorns. Oma writes photo stories about Unicorn Rosy Rose Sparkles. Watching animals began with squirrels and a Ty Beanie Baby Sammy the Squirrel.
One animal that always remains in my mind is Valerie Comer’s Pansy the goat in Secrets of Sunbeams (Urban Farm Fresh series). A holiday series with animals that I enjoyed is The Friendly Beast of Faraday by Shanna Hatfield with Lolly the camel, Pete the donkey, Bacon the Puppy, Ivy the calf, Shep the sheep, and Jasper the dove. Enjoy your granddaughter and weekend. Best wishes.
I love Billy the matchmaking steer in Jessie Gussman’s Sweet Western Christian Books. The series is also known as The Fly Boys of Sweet Briar Ranch in North Dakota.
Love books with animals
That’s so sweet that she loves the llama like her mum did.
I love animals in books, I’m another fan of Jessie Gussman’s Billy, and I enjoyed Elizabeth Maddrey’s Hope Ranch which I think had a herd of alpacas rather than llamas, but similar!
Love books that feature animals!
I love different animals in books! It makes it a little more interesting, and the characters can bond over their animals. I already get your newsletter!
I think animals in books are great! They can bring people together and often they are the reason 2 people fall in love.
I never read books with animals. They seem to always die just so authors can get an emotion from the reader. I can’t handle the sadness.
I like books with animals I have been reading Jessie gussman new series and it has billy the matching steer.
This seems like such a cute book.
I do enjoy books that include animals!…as long as they don’t come to a sad end, as mentioned above by Audrey Stewart.
As others have said, Billy the matchmaking Highland steer in Jessie Gussman’s Flyboys of Sweet Briar Ranch series is a particular favorite, though her books always have lots of enjoyable animals.
I love when animals are included in the stories. They add charm!
yes
I always enjoy reading about animals besides cats and dogs in stories. One book I read had a ferret as a pet for the main character. :D
Hi Debbie. I love all animals (except snakes). It is always fun to see their antics. They usually make me laugh. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
I love reading stories with animals in them. Reading about your story made me think of when my kids were toddlers and how some of their favorite books had animals in them. My son was especially fond of Eric Carle’s books. I remember loving all the Curious George books growing up.
I almost always love having animals in stories. As long as the animals don’t become more important than the humans, I enjoy them a lot.
Animals in stories are always fun. The first story of Valerie Comer’s that I ever read was Secrets of Sunbeams, with Eden’s goat. It’s been very rare in my reading to come across an animal that dies.
Books with farm animals are always so fun! I read a book with a goat that became the family’s pet
Hi Deb!
I love animals on books, and they’re even better when they’re not that usual (love dogs and horses as well as llamas, goats, and even donkeys.)
I enjoy books with animals but can’t think of any farm or ranch ones right now. One of my favorite series as a teen centered around a girl who was a competitive show jumper and the horses were an important part of those stories.
I Love books with animals in them and as a Mamaw my grandchildren love stuffed animals Have a Blessed Day!
I like it when animals are featured in books. They can add a lot of humor and depth to a story at times.
I love animals, so I love to see them in the books I read! One of my favorites is Rescued in Maple Bay by Brittney Joy. There’s alpacas, goats, & a pig named Daryll that likes to escape his pen. 😂
I enjoy animals in stories. My favorites are K-9s
I enjoy reading books with animals in them. My granddaughter is almost 5 and she loves me to read books to her that are about animals.