So your child has embedded themselves within the Clan. They change their mind every day about whether they’d be Firestar or Graystripe. And they’re calling the tabbycat next door Tigerstar. Now they’re after more books like Warrior Cats.
Brilliant problem to have.
If you’re entertaining the idea of a pet turning into a real warrior over breakfast almost daily, and you’re mayyyybe at breaking point and need something else to talk about, you’re in the right place.
The books here have that same feeling of an animal world with its own code, and its own ancestors watching from the stars.
The trick with a Warriors fan is finding that same pull. A world where the animals have their own rules, their own loyalties, and a lot at stake. There’s quests, fierce baddies and plenty of animal stories with series long enough to keep them going for a while.
Most suit confident readers around eight to eleven, with one or two that lean a bit older. They’re just the sort of adventure books for 9-year-olds a Warriors fan tends to fall for, and every one is on Little Reads.
Books like Warrior Cats to read next
Foxcraft: The Taken (Inbali Iserles)
Foxcraft – The Taken
Isla is a young fox who comes home to find her den burned and her family gone, taken by strange foxes.
Alone in the world of the furless (that’s us, humans) and hunted by a ruthless enemy, she has to master foxcraft, the old magical skills of her kind, just to stay alive.
It’s got all the elements of the Warriors series. Animal clans, a survival quest, codes to live by and a magic all of their own. First in a trilogy, so there’s more once they’re hooked.
Pax (Sara Pennypacker)
Pax
Peter has raised his fox Pax since he was a kit, but when his dad joins the army Peter is made to let him go. Then he runs away to get him back.
The chapters switch between Peter on his journey and Pax surviving in the wild, waiting for his boy.
It’ll likely give your child a lump in their throat, but it’s the kind of book that stays with them long after. Best for an older, more confident reader who’s after something with real heart.
The Last Wild (Piers Torday)
The Last Wild
Kester has barely spoken a word in years, until a flock of pigeons turns up in his bedroom and starts talking to him. He lives in a land where a virus has wiped out nearly every animal, and it turns out the ones still left have been pinning all their hope on him.
For the Warriors reader who loves the animals-have-their-own-world side of things, this is a big, fast adventure with a boy right in the thick of it.
There’s a sequel, The Dark Wild, for when they finish.
Spirit Animals: Wild Born (Brandon Mull)
Spirit Animals – Wild Born
Four children, far apart and strangers to each other, each summon a spirit animal in a burst of light. A wolf, a leopard, a panda and a falcon. In the world of Erdas this bond is rare and powerful, and it turns out these four are the ones who have to stop a dark force tearing the land apart.
Big, epic and team-based, with that same pull of animals and humans bound tight together. It’s the first of a long series, so there’s a good stretch to get stuck into.
The Wild Robot (Peter Brown)
The Wild Robot
Roz the robot switches on alone on a wild island with no idea why she’s there.
To survive a storm and a bear and everything else, she has to learn from the animals around her, and slowly they stop treating her as a threat.
It’s a different feel from the others (a robot, not a clan of cats), but it’s the same idea of falling for a creature that doesn’t quite belong.
A creature learning the rules of the wild, and an outsider slowly finding a place among animals that don’t trust her. There’s a film now too, which is a treat to look forward to afterwards.
Straight from the Warriors team: Bravelands
Bravelands: Shifting Shadows
If they just want more from the people who made Warriors, this is it. Erin Hunter isn’t one writer but a whole team of them, and Bravelands is their savannah series.
It’s told through three very different animals, a lion, an elephant and a baboon, all bound by one law that’s meant to keep the peace between them. When that law starts to break down, the whole savannah is thrown into danger, and the three of them end up right in the middle of it.
It’s a natural next step for a Spirit Animals fan too. I’d start with Shifting Shadows and go from there.
Always another wild world to disappear into
If your reader reckons animals are better company (and far more interesting) than humans, these books should give them a lot to get lost in.
You can find all of them on Little Reads.
Before you download Little Reads, it’s worth knowing it’s built for children who already love reading. If yours is still getting going with books, an app with phonics and reading levels will serve you better. We’re a library, not a classroom.
But for the reader who’s just closed the last Warriors book and needs somewhere new to go, this is exactly what we’re for.
Little Reads is a digital library of 3,000+ hand-picked books for children who love to read. Start them on Foxcraft and see how far they run. £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime.
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