Warm Fuzzies: 10 Feel-Good Nonfiction Books about Animals

As a former horse girl myself, I have to include a book that delves into the magical relationships between humans and their trusty steeds. If you’re not familiar with Sarah Maslin Nir by name, you may know her other work, namely the Pulitzer Prize–winning series in The New York Times about the exploitative and dangerous world of nail salons. Here, she turns her attention to horses, blending her own memoir into the compelling stories of a wide array of horse people like (and unlike) herself.

When Susan Orlean turns her attention on something, the results are reliably luminous. If you’re a podcast fan, let me recommend dipping into the archives of her Crybabies podcast. It might be the only podcast dedicated to crying? This collection of stories about all sorts of animals will delight and enchant you. If you want a taste, check out her essay from On Animals about oxen, “Carbonaro and Primavera,” previously published in The Atlantic.

An especially touching detail in this memoir of one of the few Black master falconers in the U.S. is that visits to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo sparked his initial interest in raptors. Giving kids free access to experiences that ignite their imagination and promote dreaming is vital! Rodney Stotts had to overcome tremendous hardship to make it in his career. It’s amazing and inspiring to read about someone with such commitment to honoring the wild dreams of his childhood.

If you  were a kid who pored over books stuffed with facts about animals — where are my fellow Zoobooks magazine fans? — here is a book you will love. Biologist Ashley Ward spanned the globe looking for the myriad ways animals form societies. He covers termites, marine mammals, and everything in between. The book is packed with humor and insightful stories. You’ll likely come out of it with a new outlook on how you yourself are an animal, too.

When poets write prose, you have to read it! That’s my rule. This book establishes the kinship Aimee Nezhukumatathil feels with all manner of creatures, from axolotls to flamingoes to vampire squid. Plants get their turn too, like the magnificent corpse flower. All are described with warmth and love, paired with reflections about how human foibles are mirrored in the natural world. And don’t miss the gorgeous illustrations from Fumi Nakamura.

Plenty of us dream about establishing a sanctuary for animal friends who’ve had a rough go at life. But Laurie Zaleski followed through on that dream. It was originally her mother’s dream, in fact, that Laurie eventually realized. Laurie’s story is heartwrenching at first, laden with the abuse and abandonment no person or animal deserves. But the book is proof of resilience, and the value of forging your own best life. It’s also a reminder that relationships with animals can truly help us through tough times.

Polo is a sport that’s tough for most people to wrap their head around. Having watched a handful of matches — look, I went to a college with a polo team and I already told you about that horse poster in my childhood bedroom — I can tell you it’s basically soccer on horseback. Although it’s a sport people associate with wealth and aristocracy and above all, whiteness, that’s not all it is. This story of a champion all-Black polo team that grew out of Philadelphia’s The Work to Ride stables proves that. A gifted storyteller, Kareem Rosser infuses his unflinching look at his tough upbringing in Philly with his true love of horses.

I’ve always been captivated by life under water, and Bill François shares my fascination. With a focus on fish and other marine life, he blends memoir, travel writing, natural history, and even some anthropology into his lyrical and touching anecdotes. The threat humans pose to animal life, especially ocean life, can’t be ignored in nonfiction books about animals. Still, the attention and care the author brings to such creatures as the humble sardine will undeniably charm you.

Dogs’ love for humanity shows that we must be doing something right. Don’t you want to be your best self? If not for yourself, then for for the dogs in your life? Jennifer Finney Boylan is a trans woman who transitioned in her 40s. She became her best self through a series of moments that she shares with readers, translated through the dogs in her life at these times. Through her connection to dogs, Jennifer has learned about what it really means to give and receive love. Gah, it’s too much! What did we do to deserve dogs??

Alice Walker is certainly best known for her classic The Color Purple. However, she also wrote a memoir about keeping chickens! Anyone interested in having a little flock of their own will appreciate her musings. Her dedication to her “girls,” as she calls them, is evident. Spending time in the company of animals can help you truly see them, and also see yourself. This book is an account of that process.